Michael Ansara Dead at 91

[ljbab728]

He may not be well known by many of our younger posters but he was a staple of the early days of television. He had a great variety of roles but I remember him best as Cochise, an Apache chief in "Broken Arrow".



He was also married for a while to Barbara "I Dream of Jeanie" Eden.

[Praedura]

Not being one of the younguns, I actually do remember him.

He was in a ton of stuff, mostly TV shows, in the 60's and 70's. He was a quite good character actor with a distinctive face and voice.

He appeared in a number of 'I Dream of Jeannie' episodes, being Barbara Eden's husband. I remember one epside where Jeannie and Maj. Nelson are at some art gallery and Jeannie looks at a piece and says "Ah, an orginal Ansara". Nice inside joke.

The main thing I remember him for was a TV movie from the early 70's called 'Ordeal'. It's about a rich SOB (played wonderfully by Arthur Hill) who breaks his leg while scouting for new mineral deposits in the desert. His wife leaves him to die. But he manages to make a crutch, and ventures across the desert, eventually making it out. A great survival movie (the early 70's had a lot of great made-for-TV movies). Michael Ansara played the sheriff.

[kelroy55]

I remember him from Star Trek.

[SoonerDave]

I remember him from Star Trek.

Bingo. He was in one of the better TOS episodes, "Day of the Dove," and played a Klingon that come under the influence of an alien being who lived on emotions of hate and incited wars.

Trek had its variety of co-stars in that era, some good, some not so good, but he was one of the good ones. He brought a thoroughly credibly nastiness to that role, and gave credibility to the episode it might not otherwise have had.

[Praedura]

A few shots of Ansara back in the day...

in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'




with Barbara Eden




Cochise in 'Broken Arrow'




Apache U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in 'Law of the Plainsman'




Rufus The Red in 'Bewitched'




The Blue Djinn in 'I Dream of Jeannie'




Kang in 'Star Trek'




Sheriff Geeson in 'Ordeal'




Lame Beaver in 'Centennial'