As a character actor, Townes was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s and 1960s. His expanded range led him to fill a variety of roles, and he avoided being typecast. He made five guest appearances on "Perry Mason", including the role of title character Newton Bain in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Woeful Widower." He also made three appearances on "Bonanza" and seven on "Gunsmoke" and in "The Fugitive". He made single and double appearances on numerous other television series, including in "". Besides appearing in 29 films, he is credited with more than 200 television roles. He gained a cult following with a younger audience for a guest shot on "The First", a two-part episode of "The Incredible Hulk", in which he portrays Dell Frye, a man with the ability to transform as well into a Hulk-like creature. "The First" is one of the more popular episodes from the television series largely because of Townes' performance