Jason Evers
Jason Evers | |
---|---|
Born |
Herbert Evers January 2, 1922 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Died |
March 13, 2005 83) Los Angeles, California, U.s. | (aged
Cause of death | Heart failure |
Occupation | Actor: Wrangler and Channing |
Years active | 1943-1990 |
Spouse(s) |
Shirley Ballard (1953-1966) (divorced) Diana James (1974-1975) (divorced) |
Jason Evers (January 2, 1922 – March 13, 2005) was an American actor.
Early life
Evers was born Herbert Evers in New York City, New York. After quitting high school to join the United States Army, Evers was so inspired by stars like John Wayne (whom he would later appear with in The Green Berets) that he decided to try acting.
Career
A stint on Broadway led to Hollywood, where his first big break was the 1960 NBC western television series, Wrangler.
On June 30, 1960, Evers appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[1] In 1961, he was cast as George Tess in the episode "Miz Purdy" of the ABC western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams.
Evers made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Stuart Benton in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Difficult Detour," and defendant Roy Galen in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Latent Lover." In "The Case of the Posthumous Painter", also from 1961, he played the defendant's brother.
In 1963–1964, Evers starred as 41-year-old Professor Howe in the 26-episode ABC drama series, Channing, based on life on a college campus, with co-star Henry Jones.
Evers' most enduring role derived from the 1959 B-movie classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which was not released until 1962.
In 1966, Evers appeared on the episode "The Insider" of NBC's The Road West starring Barry Sullivan as the patriarch of a family of pioneers relocated to Kansas. From 1967 to 1969, he appeared sporadically as James Sonnett, the missing son sought by the Walter Brennan character, Will Sonnett, in ABC's The Guns of Will Sonnett. Dack Rambo co-starred as Evers' son and Brennan's grandson, Jeff Sonnett. In 1968, Evers co-starred in the Star Trek episode entitled Wink of an Eye, about a race of aliens who exist in a hyperaccelerated time frame and take over the starship. The same year he appeared in the films The Green Berets, P.J. and A Man Called Gannon, and also appeared in sci-fi films such as The Illustrated Man (1969) and Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).
Evers continued to garner parts in films and television (one part he Garnered was on "The Rockford Files"), having guest starred with Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet episode "Eat, Drink and be Dead" (1966), but they were of an increasingly minor nature. Evers also appeared as a race car driver and a romantic interest of Doris Martin in The Doris Day Show in 1970. His later films included A Piece of the Action (1977), Claws (1977) and Barracuda (1978), and his final film appearance was in 1990 in Basket Case 2. He returned to New York in his later years.
Death
Evers died of heart failure in Los Angeles on March 13, 2005.[2]
Filmography
- Guadalcanal Diary (1943) - Bit Role (uncredited)
- Greenwich Village (1944) - Young Man (uncredited)
- Three Is a Family (1944) - Naval Officer (uncredited)
- Pretty Boy Floyd (1960) - Sheriff Blackie Faulkner
- The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) - Dr. Bill Cortner
- House of Women (1962) - Dr. F.M. Conrad
- P.J. (1968) - Jason Grenoble
- A Man Called Gannon (1968) - Mills
- The Green Berets (1968) - Capt. Coleman
- The Illustrated Man (1969) - Simmons
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - E-2
- Claws (1977) - Jason Monroe
- A Piece of the Action (1977) - Ty Shorter
- Barracuda (1978) - Dr. Elliot Snow
- Basket Case 2 (1990) - Lou the Editor (Last appearance)
References
- ↑ "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show". ctva.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
- ↑ Jason Evers, 83; Actor Known for 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die', latimes.com; accessed January 16, 2016.
External links
- Jason Evers at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
- Jason Evers at Find A Grave