Ritch Brinkley
Date of Birth
Ritch Brinkley was an actor best known for his role as Carl Wishnitski, the infatuated cameraman on Murphy Brown, a recurring role he played in 28 episodes from 1988 to 1997.
He appeared on a wide variety of television series over the course of his career including The Dukes of Hazzard, The Master, Mama’s Family, Hill Street Blues, Falcon Crest, Night Court, The Twilight Zone, Newhart, Dolly, My Two Dads, Twin Peaks, Get a Life, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Thunder Alley, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Malcolm & Eddie, Weird Science and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Brinkley also held another recurring role, as William the Cook on the CBS series Beauty and the Beast starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.
Additionally, Brinkley appeared in films, including Cabin Boy, Brubaker with Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman, Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton, The Man with One Red Shoe starring Tom Hanks, Big Business with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin and Breakdown with Kurt Russell.
Ritch Brinkley was an actor best known for his role as Carl Wishnitski, the infatuated cameraman on Murphy Brown, a recurring role he played in 28 episodes from 1988 to 1997.
He appeared on a wide variety of television series over the course of his career including The Dukes of Hazzard, The Master, Mama’s Family, Hill Street Blues, Falcon Crest, Night Court, The Twilight Zone, Newhart, Dolly, My Two Dads, Twin Peaks, Get a Life, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Thunder Alley, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Malcolm & Eddie, Weird Science and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Brinkley also held another recurring role, as William the Cook on the CBS series Beauty and the Beast starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.
Additionally, Brinkley appeared in films, including Cabin Boy, Brubaker with Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman, Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton, The Man with One Red Shoe starring Tom Hanks, Big Business with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin and Breakdown with Kurt Russell.
Brinkley was born and raised in Texas, and had one of his first brushes with fame in junior high when he worked for Roy Orbison as a “legman,” bringing him bottles of soda during his breaks. He got his first acting credit in 1972, on the horror movie Curse of the Headless Horseman.
Brinkley died November 5, 2015, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was 71.
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