Hollywood has lost another great actor today. Michael Ansara has passed away at the age of 91. Word has come in that Ansara passed away at his home in Calabasas, CA. on July 31st, from a prolonged illness, he was 91 years old.
The veteran character actor was probably best known for playing Klingon warrior “Kang” on three different Star Trek TV series. Ansara was married to actress Barbara Eden of I Dream Of Jeannie fame.
Ansara was no stranger to horror as he appeared in several genre projects including, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955), The Outer Limits (1964), It’s Alive (1974), Day of the Animals (1977) and The Manitou (1978).
Born in a small village in Syria to American parents, Ansara starred as Native American characters on two 1950s primetime series: ABC’s Western Broken Arrow (as Cochise) and NBC’s Law of the Plainsman (as Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart, another Apache).
He was often typecast in many Native American roles and found it difficult to break away from that image and find other roles. He also had major roles in such films as 1953’s Julius Caesar and The Robe (as Judas); 1955’s Jupiter’s Darling (his co-star in that film, swimmer-turned-actress Esther Williams, died in June); 1961’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (he also appeared in the subsequent ABC series); The Comancheros (1961) with John Wayne; The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969); The Bears and I (1974); The Message (1977).
The deep-voiced Ansara, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
We here at Horror Society would like to wish Michael Ansara’s family and friends our deepest condolences and would like to say that he was one of the greatest character actors of his time and his work will live on forever, he will be deeply missed.
