Whitner Nutting Bissell (1909–1996), known as Whit Bissell, was a prolific American character actor whose career spanned over five decades. He is best known for frequently portraying authority figures such as scientists, doctors, and military officers, becoming an iconic face of science fiction and horror cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. His numerous film credits include roles in *Creature from the Black Lagoon* (1954), *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (1956), *The Magnificent Seven* (1960), and *Soylent Green* (1973). On television, his most regular role was that of General Heywood Kirk in the series *The Time Tunnel*, but he appeared in hundreds of episodes of other productions, including *Star Trek* and *The Twilight Zone*. For his extensive contributions to the genre, in 1994 he received the Life Career Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.