Richard Deacon (May 14, 1921 - August 8, 1984) was a television and motion picture actor.

He was bald-pated, and usually bespectacled, character actor who often portrayed imperious authority figures. His best-known roles are Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Fred Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver.

In real life, he was a gourmet chef. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of cookbooks, and hosted a television series on microwave cooking.