He was born in St Louis, Missouri, to Harry Nathan Ofner, a commercial salesman for the leather industry, and Leona (Frank) Ofner, a naturalized citizen of German origin, who went by the nickname Lonnie.[1] He grew up and was educated in St. Louis, then moved to Los Angeles after he graduated from college in 1935.[citation needed]
Interested in acting, he got a small part in an independently produced Grade-B Western called Black Aces in 1937, but his show business career then languished. In 1940, he was in Meet the People on Broadway.[2]
Following the war, Phillips procured small parts in several films during 1949–1952, before getting a regular role on the NBC television version of Jack Webb's Dragnet, as Sgt. Jacobs. He was heard in the recurring role of Hamilton J. Finger, a police sergeant in Frank Sinatra's radio program Rocky Fortune in 1953 and 1954.[4] Thereafter, he was a prolific character actor in both films and television series throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, he played Mr. Jamison in the I Love Lucy episode "Ricky's European Booking." He also played minor roles in two episodes of Perry Mason, including Mr. Johnson in "The Case of the Wintry Wife" in 1961.
In 1959, he had a steady role on Gunsmoke as Long Branch Saloon co-owner Bill Pence.
Phillips remained active in television through the 1970s until his death in 1982. He was generally a guest star or featured player (e.g. a one-time appearance as an escaped criminal on the Andy Griffith Show); but he did have a number of recurring character roles in television, as series regular "Doc" Kaiser in Twelve O'Clock High (1964–1967), and as a regular on The Betty White Show (1977–1978). However, his best known role is likely to be as a diner counterman who is revealed to be a three-eyed extraterrestrial in "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?", a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone.
Among many other appearances, Phillips can be seen briefly in Stan Freberg's Jeno's pizza roll commercial.
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