Platt was born in Staten Island, New York. He spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and upstate New York, where he attended the Northwood School, a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He also studied at the Juilliard School. He attended Princeton University, but left after his freshman year. He served in the United States Army during World War II.
An operatically trained bass-baritone[a] with a powerful voice, he debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped him land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Also in 1955, Platt appeared in Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. He returned to Broadway in 1958 with the musical Oh, Captain!, in a romantic role. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest, and he starred in the movie The Rebel Set.
Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason ("The Case of the Slandered Submarine" and "The Case of the Larcenous Lady"); 77 Sunset Strip, Trackdown, State Trooper (in the episode "Who Killed Doc Robbins"), Men into Space ("From Another World"), Ripcord ("Million Dollar Drop"), Gunsmoke, Bonanza, One Step Beyond, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits ("The Man with the Power" and "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"), The Dick Van Dyke Show ("A Nice Friendly Game Of Cards"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bat Masterson (in the 1959 episode "Incident in Leadville"), Tales of Wells Fargo, The Twilight Zone, and Wagon Train

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