If you try to find a massive, dedicated Kent Perkins actor wikipedia page, you’ll probably end up staring at a "did you mean" prompt or a page about a Canadian football player. It is a weird digital hole. Most people looking for Kent Perkins aren't looking for sports stats; they’re looking for the man who spent decades as the quiet force behind one of comedy’s loudest icons, Ruth Buzzi.
He is an actor, yeah. He's also a licensed private investigator. Honestly, his real life sounds more like a Hollywood script than the actual movies he worked on.
The Reality of the Kent Perkins Filmography
Kent isn't a household name like his late wife, but he was deep in the industry during the gritty 70s and 80s. You've probably seen him in the background of cult classics without even realizing it. He played Officer Dudley Ford in the 1983 horror flick The Being.
Spoiler: He gets mauled by a monster in a patrol car.
It wasn't all monster movies, though. He was in Drive-In (1976) and did some writing and producing for Lone Star Bar & Grill. Most of his "acting" credits are the kind of steady, professional work that keeps the industry moving—guest spots on The Facts of Life and Alice. He wasn't chasing the A-list. He was building a life that eventually moved away from the soundstages of Los Angeles to a 600-acre ranch in Texas.
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Why the Wikipedia Search is So Confusing
There is a major "same name" problem here. If you Google the name right now, you get a 6'5" offensive tackle who played for the Texas Longhorns and the BC Lions. That is not the actor. Our Kent Perkins is a much older, silver-haired guy who looks exactly like what he is: a Texan who knows how to handle a horse and a legal brief.
The actor Kent Perkins is often "the guy next to Ruth Buzzi" in archival photos. They married in 1978. It’s one of those rare Hollywood marriages that actually lasted—nearly 50 years. They stayed together until her passing in May 2025. You won't find a sprawling Wikipedia biography for him because he seemingly preferred it that way. He operated in the shadows, literally.
The Private Eye Side of the Story
This is where it gets interesting. While he was booking acting gigs, Perkins was also running Allied Management Resources, Inc. He was a high-stakes Private Investigator in LA.
Basically, while other actors were waiting for their agents to call, Kent was investigating workplace crime, internal thefts, and "sexual misconduct" (his words on Quora) for major West Coast firms. He’s been very vocal about his disdain for "dumb questions" online, occasionally popping up on forums to defend his wife’s legacy or clarify facts about her career in Disney films like The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.
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He isn't just a "celebrity spouse." He’s a guy who handled the "darker" side of business while living a very public-facing life with a TV legend.
Life at the Erath County Ranch
In 2003, Kent and Ruth ditched California. They moved to a massive ranch in Erath County, Texas. It wasn't a "celebrity retirement" where they just sat by a pool. They were active in the community. Kent became a supporter of the Billy the Kid Film Festival and worked with the Texas Commission on the Arts.
When Ruth’s health declined after a series of strokes in 2022, Kent became her primary caregiver. He was the one posting updates on her Facebook page, sharing photos of her 85th birthday, and eventually announcing her passing in 2025. The transition from Hollywood actor to Texas rancher/caregiver is the part of his story that doesn't fit into a standard IMDB credit list.
What You Should Actually Know
If you are trying to piece together a biography for a project or just out of curiosity, stop looking for a "Kent Perkins" solo star vehicle. His career was a tapestry of character work, investigative business, and a legendary partnership.
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- Marital Status: Married to Ruth Buzzi from Dec 10, 1978, until her death in 2025.
- Key Roles: The Being (1983), To Protect and Serve (1992), and One Month Out (2021).
- Second Career: Founder of a major LA Private Investigation firm.
- Current Status: Retired in Texas, involved in local arts and philanthropy.
To get the full picture, you have to look at the "Cowboy Church of Erath County" records and Texas philanthropic circles. He’s a guy who lived two or three different lives at once. The "actor" label is just the tip of the iceberg.
For those looking to dive into the work he did with Buzzi, check out the 2021 film One Month Out. It’s a rare later appearance that shows the couple together on screen, a bit of a final bow for a pair that stayed remarkably grounded despite the Hollywood machine.
Check out local Texas arts commissions or the Billy the Kid Film Festival archives if you want to see his recent contributions to the industry. He’s more active in the "behind the scenes" cultural preservation of film than he is in appearing in front of the camera these days.