One of those actors who appeared EVERYWHERE, but whose name I never knew.
Rest in peace.
Posted on 06/10/2005 9:36:28 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
VENTURA, Calif. - Dana Elcar, the round-faced, balding actor whose real-life struggle with blindness was written into his role on the TV adventure series "MacGyver," has died. He was 77.
He died Monday of complications from pneumonia at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, his family said.
"MacGyver" ran on ABC from 1985 to 1992. Elcar played the best friend and boss of the crime-fighting title character, played by Richard Dean Anderson.
"At a time when I had very little business being called an actor, he made things so easy for me," Anderson said. "It was a learning experience that was very warm and loving for all seven years."
Elcar, who suffered from glaucoma, told producers he was going blind after four seasons with "MacGyver," so they adapted his character to match his medical condition. By the end of the show's run, he had become almost completely blind.
"The fact that you are losing your eyesight does not mean you have forgotten how to act," Elcar, in a speech to the National Federation of the Blind in 1991, recalled producers telling him.
Elcar's television career spanned 50 years. He played in other drama series, including "Baretta" opposite Robert Blake and the Robert Conrad series "Black Sheep Squadron."
Elcar also appeared in at least 40 films, including "The Sting," "2010," "All of Me" and "The Learning Tree."
He starred in off-Broadway plays, including the first American productions of Harold Pinter's "The Dumb Waiter" and "The Caretaker," Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood" and Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot."
Running away from home in Ferndale, Mich., at age 13 may have led Elcar to an acting career, his son, Dane Elcar, said. He became separated from a friend in a town far from home, and spent the night watching "Citizen Kane" at an all-night theater.
"That kind of sparked him to be an actor. He watched it four or five times in one night," Dane Elcar said.
In addition to his son, Elcar is survived by three daughters, a stepdaughter, a sister, a half sister and longtime companion Thelma M. Garcia.
One of those actors who appeared EVERYWHERE, but whose name I never knew.
Rest in peace.
I'm not sure who this is. Any pictures? There is no picture at the imdb.
Rest In Peace, Pete.
How inspiring that he continued to work and to encourage others. Just because life throws you curve doesn't mean you have to give up. May he rest in peace.
I remember him as Sheriff Patterson in Dark Shadows...
Of course, his greatest role was Sheriff George Patterson on Dark Shadows 1966-67.
Beat me.
Patty and Selma are in mourning.
Beat you.
Thanks much for posting this. An actor who made a lot of great contributions over the years.
My son watches the DVD sets of MacGYVER and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP/BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON. The latter was a favorite of mine when I was a teen, great to see it available to my kids.
For more reasons than they know.
I'll always remember him as The Chief in the Get Smart movie (The Nude Bomb).
How sad!
RIP Dana.
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