Dana Elcar

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Dana Elcar (born October 10, 1927 in Ferndale , Michigan , as Ibson Dana Elcar , † June 6, 2005 in Ventura , California ) was an American actor .

Life

Since his television debut in 1954, Elcar has played nearly 200 roles in film and television. He took part in countless guest roles in various series, in large-scale productions such as 2010 based on Arthur C. Clarke , comedies such as Solo for two (alongside Steve Martin ) and Buddy, Buddy! (alongside Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon ), in Franco Zeffirelli's The Champ and as FBI agent Polk in the crook comedy Der Clou (alongside Paul Newman and Robert Redford ).

He became particularly popular through his series roles. From 1976 to 1978 he played in the war series Pacific Squadron 214 (Baa Baa Black Sheep) Col. Thomas Lard , the true-to-paragraph opponent of the sympathetic main character who wore the US naval pilot Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (the character played by Robert Conrad Boyingtons name) was modeled after. In 1985 he was cast in the MacGyver series as Pete Thornton , director of the Phoenix Foundation and thus superior to the title character. He had previously played the role of security chief by the name Andy Colson in the pilot episode of the series. The character Pete Thornton became so popular that Elcar got the full lead role alongside Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver from the beginning of the second season , after being only a recurring supporting actor during the first season.

In 1991 Elcar fell ill with the eye disease green star ( glaucoma ), from which he finally went blind . Nevertheless, he continued to practice his profession, the increasing loss of sight was written into his role at MacGyver. In the following years Elcar repeatedly took on guest roles in television series. He also taught in a school for blind children.

Dana Elcar died at the age of 77 from complications from pneumonia .

Filmography (selection)

Web links