Film Early in his career he was cast as thugs, outlaws, and in military action films, like
The Delinquents (1957),
The Bonnie Parker Story (1958),
Up Periscope (1959), and
Panic in Year Zero! (1962). During the filming of 1958's juvenile-gang drama
The Cool and the Crazy, he and fellow actor Dick Jones were arrested for vagrancy while on location in
Kansas City. They were standing on the corner between takes in "JD" outfits and the police thought that they were actual gang members. It took several hours for the film crew to explain to the police what was going on and get them released from jail. By the mid-1960s, as he grew out of these roles, he became something of a comic heavy, often cast in family Disney films though still known in dramas. Some of his Disney projects included
Never a Dull Moment (1968),
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969),
The Strongest Man in the World (1975),
Return from Witch Mountain (1978), and voice-efforts in
The Fox and the Hound (1981), as 'Dinky' the finch bird. Bakalyan had an uncredited role in
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) as the good thief on the cross. He appeared in several of
Frank Sinatra's movies during the 1960s, such as
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964),
None but the Brave (1965), and ''
Von Ryan's Express'' (1965), becoming lifelong friends with the Sinatra family. It's reported Bakalyan was one of the last friends to see Darin, before his premature death from heart disease, in December, 1973. Bakalyan played Detective Loach in
Roman Polanski's 1974 film
Chinatown opposite
Jack Nicholson and
Faye Dunaway.
Television in
Lawman (1961) Bakalyan has also appeared on numerous television shows from the 1950s through the 2000s. Early small screen performances came in
Panic!,
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,
Hawaiian Eye and
The Untouchables. In 1962, he played Sgt. Wolfson on the World War II drama
Combat! in the 1st season, episode 12 "The Prisoner", returning in 1966 to play Sgt. Piper in the 4th season, episode 27 "Gitty". Later he appeared in a variety of shows, including
Batman,
Ellery Queen,
Mannix,
Love, American Style,
Kojak,
The Bionic Woman, ''
Charlie's Angels, Hill Street Blues, Emergency!, where he starred as Charley, a cantankerous fire department mechanic, and the NBC comedy series My Name Is Earl'', which was his last screen effort in October 2008. In 1968, Bakalyan was featured in "Way Down Cellar," a two-part story on ''
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. He was a regular on Dean Martin Presents: The Bobby Darin Amusement Company
(1972) and The Bobby Darin Show'' (1973). ==Personal life==