[martin_fierro]

One of those actors who appeared EVERYWHERE, but whose name I never knew.

Rest in peace.

[Tanniker Smith]

I'm not sure who this is. Any pictures? There is no picture at the imdb.

[Dan from Michigan]

One of my all time favorite shows.

Rest In Peace, Pete.

[hummingbird]

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.

[ClearCase_guy]

Of course, his greatest role was Sheriff George Patterson on Dark Shadows 1966-67.

[Republican Red]

I didn't know his name but I've seen him in many roles on tv and in movies.
Br> Rest in peace.

[wireman]

R.I.P. Col. Lard!

[Borges]

Patty and Selma are in mourning.

[GOPrincess]

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.

[ambrose]

I'll always remember him as The Chief in the Get Smart movie (The Nude Bomb).

[najida]

How sad!

RIP Dana.

[colorado tanker]

I didn't know his name, but always enjoyed his characters. RIP and thanks for the entertainment.

[Sunshine Sister]

I am very much saddened to hear of his death. I absolutely loved the MacGyver series because there was hardly any profanity and although some of it was pretty hokey they used science principals to get out of bad situations.

[drjimmy]

One of his good movie roles was as agent Polk, the fake FBI guy from The Sting.

[Kirkwood]

I met him once when he opened a blindness research clinic. Very humble of his accomplishments and yet he was outgoing, with a warm and affable personality.

[MikeD]

I wondered what happened to him -- He was everywhere in the '80s, but didn't do much afterwards. Now I know why.

[Flightdeck]

I did not write the following:


VENTURA, California (AP) - In another glaring example
that tragedy takes no days off, Hollywood lost an icon
Monday, bidding a final farewell to Dana Elcar, better
known as "Pete Thornton," the rotund, bald and
blinding straightman to Richard Dean Anderson's cooky
genius in the hit TV series "MacGyver."

Elcar, who was not classically trained, succumbed to
complications of pneumonia. He was 77.

"Well, pneumonia makes you cold, right?," asked former
"Good Times" star John Amos, who never met Elcar.
"Well, that's fitting then, because D-Elcs was cold as
ice. I'll be here all week."

Anderson, who proudly boasts he lost Elcar's phone
number the day ABC cancelled the long-running series,
was clearly shaken.

"This is horrifying and something I didn't see
coming," said Anderson, who also co-starred with
Morris Chestnut and Burt Young in the short-lived
"Firehouse" in 1997. "I mean, I had to cancel my
NASCAR fantasy trip to go to his funeral. I was really
looking forward to that trip. And now his crazy wife
wants me to give some sort of speech. What am I gonna
say, 'He was bald, fat and blind'? I could swear he
mumbled something once about kids or some sh#t.
Couldn't they speak? Darryl Waltrip's gonna be at this
camp!"

Anderson was not the only A-lister struggling with
Monday's news. Robert Blake, who brutally murdered his
wife before being acquitted earlier this year in Los
Angeles, co-starred with Elcar on the 1970s drama
"Baretta."

"Did he leave me any cash?", a sobbing Blake asked.
"Look, man, I killed the hell outta my wife and that
trial cost a brother some cash, y'know? If that fat,
blind a##hole had any compassion he woulda left me
some money. F#ckin' prick."

The loss of Elcar leaves Hollywood clamoring for
another blind superstar. With the deaths of Ray
Charles and now Elcar in the last year alone, Stevie
Wonder remains the lone recognizable blind bigwig in
the entertainment industry.

"Sh#t, man, toss some sulfur in my eyes if it'll get
me back on TV," said former "Charles in Charge" star
Scott Baio. "Even ChaChi's gotta eat."

While the thought of Baio's return to stardom remains
highly unlikely and equally as insulting, several
Hollywood insiders are quietly hoping former "Walker,
Texas Ranger" star Chuck Norris suffers a sudden bout
of blindness.

"That guy seems like the logical choice," said
Hollywood producer/director Ron Howard, who asked not
to be named. "Anyone who's seen 'Walker' knows that
that show woulda been even sweeter if the title
character was blind. Who wouldn't root for a lawman
dolin' out Texas justice one blind kick at a time? I'd
give one of my balls to see that."

While the rumor mill will likely continue to churn
until another icon loses his sight, for now Hollywood
will continue to mourn the loss of a legend.

"Yeah, sure, I'll miss him," Anderson said. "But I'll
miss my NASCAR weekend even more."

[yarddog]

I liked him but couldn't stand Richard Dean Anderson. Anderson made it a point to say how much he hated guns every time he could.

[william clark]

He was fun as Steve Martin's boss in "All of Me"