McCord was born Kent Franklin McWhirter in Los Angeles, California, to Bert and Laura McWhirter. Using the stage name Kent McCord, he first appeared on television in 1962 The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. He became a close friend of Rick Nelson and made a total of 44 appearances on the program over the next few years. He also landed small parts in three Elvis Presley films. He also appeared as a motorcycle courier in a McHale\'s Navy episode titled "Monkey Business 007" under the name Kent McWhirter. \n', 'McCord also appeared in the first episode (air date 14 September 1967) of Raymond Burr\'s Ironside series, entitled "Message from Beyond", as motorcycle cop "Kellogg".\n', 'After working in a variety of secondary roles, he got his big break in 1968 when he was given a lead role next to Martin Milner as rookie LAPD police officer James A. "Jim" Reed on Adam-12, a police drama television series created by Jack Webb. The popular show ran on NBC from 1968-75. In the first season of Jack Webb\'s Dragnet 1967, he appeared three times. The first appearance was an extra as an apartment manager, the second in the episode "The Big Explosion", saw him credited under his legal name.[citation needed]\n', 'In the third episode, "The Interrogation", McCord was credited under his stage name. He played the role of a Los Angeles Police Department officer who has been accused of robbing a store while working an undercover narcotics detail fresh out of the police academy. McCord went on to appear five additional times in the second season, three times as unnamed officers and twice as his eventual Adam-12 character Jim Reed. He appeared one more time on Dragnet as Reed before the character became exclusive to Adam-12.[citation needed]\n', '

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