Raymon Lee Cramton (June 11, 1937 – July 24, 2012), known professionally as Chad Everett, was an American actor who appeared in more than 40 films and television series. He played Dr. Joe Gannon in the television drama Medical Center, which aired from 1969 to 1976.
Everett said he did not mind the change because he was tired of explaining his real name: "Raymon-no-D, Cramton-no-P." He was raised in Dearborn, Michigan, where he attended Fordson High School. While there, he played on the football team as a quarterback and began acting in stage plays at age 14. During his junior year at Wayne State University in Detroit, he joined a State Department–sponsored acting troupe that toured India. "I went into acting because I'm easily bored", Everett once said. "Acting seemed to give vent to a lot of different feelings." He graduated from WSU with a degree in drama. In 1961, Everett signed a seven-year contract to MGM.
Everett's first notable role came in an episode of the 1960-1962 detective series Surfside 6. His first major role came a year later in the film Claudelle Inglish, and he played a deputy in the short-lived 1963 ABC Western television series The Dakotas. After appearing in a number of movies and television series in the later 1960s, he got his big break, landing the role of Dr. Joe Gannon on the medical drama Medical Center, with costar James Daly.
He appeared in numerous films and television series, including The Singing Nun, Centennial, Hagen, Airplane II: The Sequel, Star Command, and Mulholland Drive. He also appeared as a guest star in more than 40 television series such as Redigo; Melrose Place; The Nanny; Touched by an Angel; Diagnosis: Murder; Caroline in the City; Murder, She Wrote; The Red Skelton Show; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; and Route 66. He recorded a couple of albums, including All Strung Out in 1971, for Marina, by MGM covering Ain't No Sunshine.
After Medical Center ended, Everett became frustrated when no movie roles were forthcoming and television roles were not working out. A long-time social drinker, he began drinking heavily. He was consuming a quart of vodka a day by the time he quit drinking in 1986.
In 1986, Everett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled. In 1987, Everett supplied the voice of Ultraman Chuck in the English version of the animated movie Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and voiced several characters in the animated television series The New Yogi Bear Show. He hosted Trinity Broadcasting Network's Master's Theater. He was selected by the family of John Wayne to be the voice of the audio-animatronic figure of Wayne in Disney's Hollywood Studios' The Great Movie Ride. Based on Patrick Wayne's suggestion, Everett also provided the voice of Wayne in a scene that only appears in the VHS version of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (replacing the Hulk Hogan scene that appeared in the theatrical and DVD versions).
For many years, Everett co-hosted the Labor Day Jerry Lewis Telethon, which raises money and awareness for and about the affliction of muscular dystrophy. Everett died on July 24, 2012, at his home in Los Angeles of lung cancer. He was 75 years old.
(Edited from Wikipedia)