Gervase Duan "G.D." Spradlin (August 31, 1920 – July 24, 2011) was an American actor. He often played devious authority figures. He is credited in over 70 television and film productions, and performed alongside actors including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, and George C. Scott.
Spradlin was born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. His parents both worked as schoolteachers. Spradlin obtained his bachelor's degree in education from the University of Oklahoma. He was a member of Delta Chi fraternity. He then served in the Army Air Force during World War II, where he was stationed in China.
Following World War II, Spradlin returned to the University of Oklahoma, where he completed a law degree in 1948. He first began his career as an attorney working in Venezuela and then became an independent oil producer forming Rouge Oil Company. Before he turned to acting he was active in local politics campaigning for John F. Kennedy in 1959. He joined the Oklahoma Repertory Theatre in 1964.
A notable break for Spradlin resulted from his work in television in the 1960s. Fred Roos had cast Spradlin in such television shows as I Spy (as the immediate superior of Pentagon spies Kelly Robinson and
(This is information generated from a Wikipedia article, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.)