Updated: March 03, 2025

From 1964 to 68, Basehart played the lead role, Admiral Harriman Nelson, on Irwin Allen's first foray into science-fiction television, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Allen would go on to produce a number of sci-fi series in the 1960's and the highly successful feature films The Poseidon Adventure ( 1972 ) and The Towering Inferno ( 1974 ), earning him the moniker "The Master of Disaster." Although Basehart started his career as a film actor, he became best known for his role on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.