RIP Takashi Inagaki

 

Actor Takashi Inagaki dies of pneumonia at the age of 87 He is in charge of many dubbing roles such as the role of Palpatine, the supreme chairman of "Star Wars"

Yahoo Japan

3/272025

 

Takashi Inagaki passed away.

 Actor Takashi Inagaki died of pneumonia at 4:30 p.m. on the 12th at a hospital in Machida City, Tokyo. He was 87 years old. The theater company Mingei, to which he belongs, made the announcement on his official website on the 27th.

"Takashi Inagaki, real name, an actor from the Mingei Theater Company, passed away at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at a hospital in Machida City, Tokyo, at the age of 87." "The funeral was held on Friday, March 21 at a family funeral, and the chief mourner was her daughter, Kayako Akahori. For inquiries, please contact the theater company Mingei. I would like to respectfully inform you here."

According to the troupe, "There are no plans to hold a farewell party."

Mr. Inagaki was born in Gunma Prefecture on May 11, 1937. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Shibukawa High School, he went to the Actor's Theater Training School (8th class), became a research student at the Mingei Theater Company in '59, and became a member of the theater company in '64. The first stage was "The Cage" in 60.

The main stage performances are Lapchenko in Arbuzov's "The Irkutsk Story", Happy in Miller's "Death of a Salesman", Lautrec in Juro Miyoshi's "The Man on Fire", Dussel in Anne Frank's "Anne Frank's Diary", Hitler in Brecht's "Schbeik in World War II", Gorky's "The Abyss" actors, Tomoyoshi Murayama's "Doomsday Hour" by Yamada Uemon, Steinbeck's original "The Grapes of Wrath" narrator, Okamoto Kyodo's "Haiku Master" by Michidori and Junji Kinoshita's "Master" by the pianist. In high school, he studied piano with Noboru Toyomasu and showed his skills in the play "The Master" (91, 97, 2004).

Recent stage performances include Kinji Obata's "Kobe Kita Hotel" by Keishiro Oga (09.10), Kinji Obata's "Doron Doron - Yotsuya Kaidan" by Kikugoro Onoe (10-13), Yoji Sakate's "The Return" by Yoshimitsu Kirimoto (11), David Berry's "The Whale of August" by Joshua (13.14), and Brendan Behan's "Hitojichi" Monçoir (15). The final stage is "Paper Moon" by Itsuki Sato, Ryo Yanai (18). He has also appeared in many Nikkatsu films such as "Life Like a Weed," "The Sixty-Third Regiment of Fools," "Kill Those Who Get in the Way," "The Girl in the Glass," and "The City Without a Map."

He has also appeared in many external voices (dubbing), including foreign dramas such as "ER Emergency Room", "White House", "Lost", the movie "007" series, "Titanic", "Armageddon", "Spider-Man", and "Hitchcock". In recent years, the "Kingdom Hearts" video game has been released, including the "Hunger Games" series (President Coriolanus Snow), the "Star Wars" series (Palpatine), "007: Skyfall" (Kinkade), "Planet of the Apes: Genesis" (Jon Landon), "The Hobbit: The Kingdom of the Dragon" (Berlin), and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Henrik Vanger). In the series, he voiced Yen Sid.

INAGAKI, Takashi (Inagaki Takashi)

Born: 5/11/1937, Gunma Prefecture, Japan

Died: 3/12/2025, Machida City, Tokyo, Japan

 

Takashi Inagaki’s western – voice actor:

Westworld (TV) 2016  [Japanese voice of Anthony Hopkins]

RIP Clive Revill

 

Clive Revill, Voice of the Emperor in ‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ Dies at 94

Recruited to be an actor by Laurence Olivier, he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, earned two Tony nominations and appeared in a pair of Billy Wilder films.  

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

March 25, 2025

 

Clive Revill, the New Zealand native who after being recruited to be an actor by Laurence Olivier starred on Broadway, appeared in two films for Billy Wilder and provided the original voice of the evil Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, has died. He was 94.

Revill died March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks after a battle with dementia, his daughter, Kate Revill, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The extremely versatile Revill played cops in Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), starring Olivier, and Jack Smight’s Kaleidoscope (1966), starring Warren Beatty; not one but two characters (a Scotsman and an Arab) in Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise (1966); and a physicist investigating strange goings-on at a haunted mansion in John Hough’s The Legend of Hell House (1973), starring Roddy McDowall.

A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Revill also appeared seven times on Broadway and received Tony nominations for his turns in two musicals: as the Bar-des-Inquiets proprietor Bob-Le-Hotu in 1961’s Irma la Douce and as Fagin in 1963’s Oliver!

For Wilder, he portrayed a man representing a Russian ballerina in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) — his character is led to believe that Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) are gay — and the besieged hotel manager Carlo in Avanti! (1972), which earned him a Golden Globe nom.

For Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), director Irvin Kershner called upon Revill — the two had worked together on the 1966 film A Fine Madness — to record a couple of menacing lines in a Wilshire Boulevard studio in Los Angeles.

They would be used in the pivotal scene in which Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) communicates with the emperor (as a holographic projection).

Revill’s voice would be replaced on the 2004 DVD release of the film by Ian McDiarmid’s, who went on to play the character in Return of the Jedi (1983) and the franchise’s three prequels — but he had his fans nonetheless.

“They come up to me, and I tell them to get close and shut their eyes,” he said in a 2015 interview. “Then I say [in the emperor’s haunting voice], ‘There is a great disturbance in the Force.’ People turn white, and one nearly fainted!”

One of two sons, Clive Selsby Revill was born on April 18, 1930, in Wellington, New Zealand. His mother, Eleanor, was a homemaker and an opera singer, and his father, Malet, was a carpenter.

A great fan of Shakespeare, Revill was working as an actuary in a bank when he met Olivier and his wife, actress Vivien Leigh, who were on a tour of New Zealand. Olivier told him to come to his Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol to study acting, and Revill raised the money to make the trip to England in 1950.

He struggled away from home. “I had my doubts at one point when I thought, ‘I can’t do it. I can’t do this. I can’t find it within myself,’” Revill recalled in a 2017 interview. “I had a marvelous talk with a woman who was in charge of movement in school and she took me aside and said, ‘You’ve got to go back to within yourself and find the truth within yourself, and if you can find that truth, never, never, never lose it because it’s more than a ring on a finger. It’s the absolute, innermost line within your life and your spirit.’”

Revill regained his confidence and in 1952 made his Broadway debut in Mr. Pickwick, based on Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers. He then joined the RSC and in 1964 starred in a bathtub as Jean-Paul Marat alongside Patrick Magee as the Marquis de Sade in a production of Marat/Sade.

Revill returned to Broadway in 1967 to star as Sheridan Whiteside in the musical Sherry!, in 1971 to star as Max Beerbohm in The Incomparable Max, in 1975 to play Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes and in 1981 to star as Clare Quilty in Edward Albee’s adaptation of Lolita.

He could play all manner of ethnicities, and his big-screen body of work included The Double Man (1967), Fathom (1967), The Assassination Bureau (1969), A Severed Head (1970), The Black Windmill (1974), One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975), Zorro: The Gay Blade (1981), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) and The Queen of Spain (2016).

Revill portrayed an Irishman in 1978 on Peter Falk’s last episode of the original Columbo series and showed up on everything from Maude, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Remington Steele, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 to Magnum, P.I., Newhart, MacGyver, Dear John, The Fall Guy and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In addition to Emperor Palpatine, he played other Star Wars characters in video games and was Alfred the butler on Batman: The Animated Series in 1992.

Survivors also include his granddaughter, Kayla.

REVILL, Clive (Clive Selsby Revill)

Born: 4/18/1930, Wellington, New Zealand

Died: 3 2025,

 

Clive Revill’s westerns – actor, singer:

Young Daniel Boone (TV) – 1977 (Teague)

Centennial (TV) – 1979 (Finlay Perkin)

Zorro the Gay Blade – 1981 (Garcia)

Pocahontas 2: Journey to the New World – 1998 [singer]

RIP Maria Gustafson

 

A beloved actress and presenter, unforgettable in a mythical TVE program, dies

Maria hit hit on TV in the 70s

El Nacional

By Dario Porras

March 25, 2025

 

Sad news that has just been known: the death of one of the components of one of the most mythical programs in the history of television in Spain. It was the decade of the 70s when a program, arising from the mind of Chicho Ibáñez Serrador, made the whole country stand in front of the televisions watching how different couples answered questions, how they participated in tests and how they took home some prize from the auction. We are talking, obviously, about One, two, three... answer again. A program that in its beginnings had Kiko Ledgard as its presenter. And a program that from the beginning had, among one of its house brands, a cast of hostesses with giant glasses.

Let's stay with the hostesses. Among the many girls who took part, many of them later earned a living as actresses. There was, for example, Victoria Abril, Kim Manning, Sílvia Marsó, Lydia Bosch, Isabel Serrano, Nina and so many others. And there was also a young Swedish woman, who, curiously, the stage name that Chicho Ibáñez Serrador made her give was different from hers. We are talking about Maria Gustafsson, renamed 'Britt', since it was strange, she said, for the viewer, that the Swedish stewardess had a name as Spanish as Maria. A Swedish stewardess-actress who has now passed away, unfortunately.

One of Britt's functions in the program, where, by the way, she was one of the few hostesses who was from the beginning to the end of that first stage in the 70s, before the arrival of the 80s and Mayra Gómez-Kemp, was to draw balls from the lucky drum, which decided who would compete in the coming weeks. In her native Sweden she had participated in amateur plays, but it was when she decided to move to Spain that she was able to develop her artistic career at a professional level. Precisely, one of the films in which she participated was 'La residencia', by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador himself, who was so happy with it that he later offered her to play a stewardess. As an actress, she participated in films such as 'The Last Mrs. Anderson', 'Long-Play', 'You Won't Wish for the Neighbor on the Fifth', 'The Boy and the Colt', 'Blood in the Ring', 'Through the Roof, the Stars', 'A Rope, a Colt' or 'Chronicles of a Town'.

She was currently living in Stockholm, although she traveled from time to time to Spain when there was a commemorative event of the program that launched her to fame. Rest in peace.

GUSTAFSON, Maria (Britt Monica Maria Gustafsson)

Born: 8/31/1946, Boden Sweden

Died: 3/23/2025, Aseda, Stockholm, Sweden

 

Maria Gustafson’s western – actress:

Cemetery Without Crosses – 1968 (saloon girl)

RIP Pilar Del Rey

 

Pilar Del Rey, Actress in ‘Giant,’ Dies at 95

She portrayed Sal Mineo’s mom in the Oscar best picture nominee directed by George Stevens.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 28, 2025

 

Pilar Del Rey, the character actress perhaps best remembered for her turn in Giant as the Mexican woman who has a seriously ill newborn who grows up to be the doomed World War II soldier played by Sal Mineo, has died. She was 95.

Del Rey died Sunday in Los Angeles of natural causes, her family announced.

Over four decades, Del Rey appeared in such other films as The Ring (1952), starring Rita Moreno; And Now Miguel (1953), starring Michael Ansara and Pat Cardi; The Siege at Red River (1954), starring Van Johnson and Joanne Dru; and Black Horse Canyon (1954), starring Mari Blanchard and Race Gentry.

In George Stevens’ epic Giant (1956), Del Rey portrays Mrs. Obregón, whose baby, Angel, is cared for thanks to Elizabeth Taylor’s compassionate Leslie Benedict. Leslie’s husband, Bick (Rock Hudson), doesn’t think the family doctor should tend to “those people.” (Mrs. Obregón’s husband, played by Victor Millan, is the Benedicts’ driver.)

Born on May 26, 1929, in Fort Worth, Texas, Del Rey was 11 when she and her parents left for Hollywood, where she would attend Hollywood High School.

She made her onscreen debut in Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) and played Latino characters in such films as The Kid From Texas (1950) and The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952) and on episodes of The Adventures of Kit Carson and Have Gun — Will Travel.

Her TV credits also included stops on Hopalong Cassidy, Sea Hunt, Fireside Theater, Daniel Boone, Family Affair, My Three Sons, The Wild Wild West, Police Story, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Hart to Hart, Simon & Simon and many other shows.

Her final onscreen appearance came in The Forbidden Dance (1990).

Del Rey, who joined SAG in 1949 and AFTRA in 1955, was honored in 1995 at the inaugural AFTRA/SAG Latino/Hispanic Heritage Celebration, where actor Ricardo Montalbán recognized her contributions to the entertainment industry.

Survivors include three nephews that she raised as her children. Said nephew David Bouzas: “Pilar will forever be remembered for her generosity and love. She truly was our Auntie Mame.”

DEL REY, Pilar (Pilar Bougas)

Born: 5/26/1929, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 2/23/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Pilar Del Rey’s westerns – actress:

The Kid from Texas – 1950 (Marguarita)

Mark of the Renegade – 1951 (señorita)

The Adventures of Kit Carson (TV) – 1951, 1952 (Carlotta Mesconti, Christina Gonzales, waitress, servant)

Hopalong Cassidy (TV) – 1953 (Marella, Artaro’s woman)

Black Horse Canyon – 1954 (Juanita)

Border River -1954 (girl)

Jubilee Trail – 1954 (Carmelita Velasco)

The Siege at Red River – 1954 (Lukoa)

Stories of the Century (TV) – 1955 (Tonia)

Giant – 1956 (Mrs. Obregón)

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1959 (Maria)

26 Men (TV) – 1959 (Lucita)

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1961 (Lucia)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1968 (Moranta)

The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1969 (Mexican matron)

The High Chaparral (TV) – 1970 (Mrs. Martinez)

How the West Was Won (TV) – 1979 (Esperanza)

RIP Gianfranco Barra

 

Farewell to Gianfranco Barra, character actor for great directors: he was 84 years old 

His career was launched in 1968 by the film 'Il medico della mutua' by Luigi Zampa with Alberto Sordi

adnkronos

March 23, 2025

 

Actor Gianfranco Barra has died. Character actor appreciated for his versatility, capable of passing through the most varied roles, both comic and dramatic, he was 84 years old. Barra, who worked for the greatest directors of the Italian film and television scene, died today at his home in Rome, where he was born on April 5, 1940. The announcement of his death was made by his family to Adnkronos.

A graduate of the 'Silvio D'Amico' Academy of Dramatic Arts, a long-time theatre actor, Barra made his debut on the big screen in 1968 in the film 'Il medico della mutua' by Luigi Zampa, where he played Dr. Sandolini, one of the perfidious colleagues of Dr. Guido Tersilli (Alberto Sordi), a young and ambitious recent graduate. He then starred in dramas such as 'Detainee awaiting judgment' (1971) by Nanni Loy and in brilliant comedies such as 'What happened between my father and your mother?' (1972) by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon, set and shot in Italy, with an almost all-Italian cast.

He worked with Steno, by whom he was particularly appreciated, in 'Il trapianto' (1969), 'La polizia grazie' (1972), 'La poliziotta' (1974), 'Il padrone e l'operaio' (1975), 'Doppio delitto' (1977), 'Fico d'india' (1980) and 'Banana Joe' (1982), alongside Bud Spencer. Barra also distinguished himself in 'Il sindacalista' (1972) by Luciano Salce, 'Mordi e fuggi' (1973) by Dino Risi and 'Pane e cioccolata' (1973) by Franco Brusati.

Supporting Ugo Tognazzi and Paolo Villaggio in 'La mazurka del barone, della santa e del fico fiorone' (1975) by Pupi Avati, Gianfranco Barra then joined Monica Vitti and Adriano Celentano in 'L'altra metà del cielo' (1976) by Franco Rossi, and starred in the film 'I nuovi mostri' (1977), directed by Mario Monicelli, Dino Risi and Ettore Scola, appearing in the episode 'Con i saluti degli amici', and later in 'Gian Burrasca' (1982) by Pier Francesco Pingitore.

With the eighties, Barra was one of the most used actors by the Vanzina brothers: appearing in 'Eccezzziunale... veramente' (1982), 'Christmas Holidays' (1983), 'La partita' (1988) and above all 'Sapore di mare' (1982): in the latter film he is Antonio Pinardi, the father of siblings Paolo (Angelo Cannavacciuolo) and Marina (Marina Suma) who came to Forte dei Marmi for the first time with their parents. Barra was also present in 'Sapore di mare 2 - Un anno dopo' (1983) by Bruno Cortini (1983). He was again directed by Carlo Vanzina in 'Il pranzo della domenica' (2003) and 'Le barzellette' (2004) and also in the TV miniseries 'Anni '50' (1998).

In Barra's filmography, which includes 117 titles, characterizations in dramatic films stand out, such as 'The Rubber Wall' (1991) by Marco Risi, who also chose him for the comedy 'In the Black Continent' (1992). Other films in which he has acted as a character actor include 'Roaring Throats' (1992) by Pier Francesco Pingitore, 'Only You - Love at First Sight' (1994) by Norman Jewison, 'Italian Miracle' (1994) by Enrico Oldoini, 'Dirty Laundry' (1999) by Mario Monicelli, 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1999) by Anthony Minghella (1999).

Since the nineties, Barra's career has also included many fictions for Rai and Mediaset such as 'Giovanni Falcone' (1993), 'The Baron' (1995), 'Positano' (1996), 'Blessed by the Lord' (2004), 'Honor and Respect' (2006), 'The Countess of Castiglione' (2006), 'Warm Blood' (2011). In recent years he has also appeared in commercials. In 2017 Gianfranco Barra was awarded at the Formia Film Festival for the short film 'New Year New Life', which he wrote, directed and starred in, for which he also received a special mention and a lifetime achievement award. In the short film, now in old age, thinking back to his artistic past, the actor goes through a lacerating conflict: 'celebrate the successes of the past or relive them as an experience of reaching maturity?'.

BARRA, Gianfranco

Born: 4/5/1940, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 3/23/2025, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Gianfranco Barra’s western – actor:

Jesse and Lester, Two Brothers in a Place Called Trinity - 1972

RIP Jack Lilley

 

'Little House on the Prairie' actor Jack Lilley dead at 91

Jack Lilley's son, Clint, called his father 'one of a kind' in a heartfelt tribute shared with Fox News Digital

Fox News

By Stephanie Giang-Paunon

March 21, 2025

 

Jack Lilley, best known for his roles on "Little House on the Prairie," has died. He was 91.

His son, Clint Lilley, exclusively confirmed to Fox News Digital that his father had died "peacefully in his sleep," at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home in Calabasas, California on Wednesday, March 19.

"He was one of a kind," Clint said as he shared how proud he was to be a part of three generations in Hollywood.

"We got a glimpse of the old Hollywood … because he came out of that … and seen the transition. He’s seen so much change in the industry and we were kind of raised around it as little kids. We got to see when it was done back in the day, compared to now."

Clint remembered working on the "Little House on the Prairie" production as a child and continued to share what his father taught him in the industry.

"He taught us, we had to work for it and nothing was going to be handed to you, you have to go get it … he made sure [of] that … I'm thankful for that, because he wanted to make sure that we were grounded," Clint laughed as he reflected on special memories of the Old Hollywood actor.

"He wanted to make sure that [we know] … it's a privilege, it’s a blessing to be in the industry … I'm forever grateful for that."

Clint told Fox News Digital that Jack was surrounded by loved ones at the time of his passing.

Jack appeared as a stagecoach driver in "Little House on the Prairie" and was often seen transporting the characters in between towns on a horse-drawn carriage.

The Hollywood actor worked on the popular 1970s television series and was featured in several made-for-television movies in the "Little House" franchise, including "Little House: Look Back to Yesterday" in 1983 and "The Last Farewell" and "Bless All the Dear Children," both of which aired in 1984.

Jack’s son shared that his father was close with "Little House on the Prairie" producer, Kent McCray, and fellow actor Victor French.

"He's one of those guys who never forgot where he came from," Clint added. "He came from dirt poor; they moved in 1933. He was born in Santa Clarita … grew up in North Hollywood."

"He helped a lot of people in this industry … he could make things happen. He was that guy, and he was always willing to help. Always willing to help out and come up with a solution … make it work, make it happen … that's a gift."

Jack concluded his heartfelt tribute, "He's a really good father, no doubt about it."

The "Little House on the Prairie" family is also mourning the loss of the series alum.

Melissa Gilbert took to Instagram to share a special message to her former co-star.

"The little house family has lost one of our own. Jack Lilley has passed away," Gilbert posted on social media.

"He also happened to be one of my favorite people on the planet. He taught me how to ride a horse when I was just a wee little thing. He was so patient with me," she added in her lengthy tribute.

Aside from being Victor French’s photo double, he was featured prominently in many different roles on Little House. You can also see his absolute brilliance in the film Blazing Saddles."

Gilbert posted a photo of Jack in a cowboy hat to accompany her social media tribute.

"Our first read though was at Paramount Studios, where we had shot Little House the first four years. It was also on Halloween, which is Michael Landon’s birthday. That day, I also found out we would be shooting at Big Sky Ranch, where we had shot little house."

She continued to describe how her first day on set was "surreal."

"Then I walked to the set itself and before I could even focus I heard a familiar voice holler, ‘Hey Halfpint, you old rat-a--!!!’ It was Jack. He was our wrangler for that pilot and by his side was Denny Allen, who had been our wrangler on Little House."

Gilbert added, "In that instant, I knew I was home. Jack always felt like home to me. He lived quite a life. I am so lucky that he was my friend… Oh Jack....sweet prince...may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Love always, Your Halfpint."

After "Little House on the Prairie," Jack went on to become an actor and stuntman for several other films throughout his career, including "Sudden Impact," "Young Guns," "Planet of the Apes" and "The Legend of Zorro."

LILLEY, Jack (Jack E. Lilley)

Born: 8/15/1933, Santa Clarita, California, U.S.A.

Died: 3/19/2025, Calabasas, California, U.S.A.

 

Jack Lilley’s westerns – actor, stuntman,

Gun for a Coward – 1956 (cowhand)

Drango – 1957 (townsman)

Fury at Sundown – 1957 (townsman)

The Hard Man – 1957 (townsman)

Cheyenne (TV) 1957-1962 (barfly, soldier, townsman)

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1957-1960 (townsman)

The Oklahoman – 1957 (townsman)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1957 (wagon train member)

Zorro (TV) 1957-1961 (tavern patron, lancer, bandito)

Ride a Crooked Trail – 1958 (Teeler gang member)

Cimarron City (TV) – 1959 (bandit)

Last Train from Gun Hill – 1959 (townsman)

The Deputy (TV) – 1959 (guard)

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1959 (ranch hand, trial spectator)

Lawman (TV) – 1959 (barfly)

Mackenzie’s Raiders (TV) – 1959 (Indian)

Maverick (TV) - 1959-1962 (bandit, Indian, townsman)

Rawhide (TV) - 1959-1962 (vaquero, cowhand, townsman)

The Rebel (TV) – 1959 (Indian, townsman)

Bronco (TV) 1960-1961 (townsman, cowhand)

Death Valley Days – 1960 (TV) (bandit, townsman)

Johnny Ringo (TV) – 1960 (townsman)

Overland Train (TV) – 1960 (Indian, townsman)

Riverboat (TV) – 1960 (townsman)

Sugarfoot (TV) – 1960 (barfly)

The Tall Man (TV) – 1960 (barfly)

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1960 (townsman)

One-Eyed Jacks – 1961 [stunts]

Posse from Hell – 1961 (townsman)

Bonanza (TV) – 1961-1972 (juror, brawler, barfly)

Frontier Circus (TV) – 1961 (Indian)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1961-1974 (special deputy, brawler, townsman) [stunts]

Lonely are the Brave – 1962 (prisoner)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – 1962 (townsman)

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1962 (cowboy)

The Virginian (TV) – 1962-1966 (barfly, Conway henchman, Colter ranch hand)

Gunfight at Comanche Creek – 1963 (barfly)

Bullet for a Badman – 1964 (townsman)

Black Spurs – 1965 (townsman)

Cat Ballou – 1965 (brawler)

The Hallelujah Trail – 1965 [stunts]

The Rounders – 1965 [stunts]

The Big Valley (TV) – 1965-1967 (townsman, settler)

Branded (TV) – 1965 (townsman)

A Man Called Shenandoah (TV) – 1965 (townsman)

The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1965-1968 (murdered stage driver, clock mover on train, driver)

Johnny Reno – 1966 (townsman)

Nevada Smith – 1966 (gang member)

The Rare Breed – 1966 (townsman)

The Ballad of Josei – 1967 (cowhand)

40 Guns to Apache Pass – 1967 (Mr. Carter)

Hostile Guns – 1967 (cowhand)

Rough Night in Jericho – 1967 (henchman)

Waterhole #3 – 1967 (trooper)

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1967 (townsman)

The High Chaparral (TV) – 1967-1969 (ranch hand, bartender, guard)

Arizona Bushwackers – 1968 (townsman)

Support Your Local Sheriff – 1969 (Danby family member)

Scandalous John – 1971 [stunts]

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971 (Bannerman Agent)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1972 [overseer]

Cotter – 1973 (rodeo cowboy)

Blazing Saddles – 1974 [overseer, stunts]

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1974-1983 (stage driver, wagon driver) [stunt coordinator]

The Mountain Men – 1980 [stunts]

Father Murphy (TV) – 1981 1983 (stage driver, gambler, driver) [stunt coordinator]

Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (TV) – 1983 (townsman)

Little House: The Last Farewell (TV) – 1984 (stagecoach driver) [stunts]

Little House: Bless All the Dear Children (TV) – 1984 (stagecoach driver)

Three Amigos – 1986 [stunts]

The Alamo: Thirteen Days of Glory – 1987 [stunts]

Young Guns – 1988 [head wrangler]

Bonanza: The Next Generation (TV) – 1988 (Jory)

Once Upon a Texas Train – (TV) – 1988 [stunts]

Young Guns II – 1990 [head wrangler]

City Clickers – 1991 [livestock coordinator]

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV) – 1991 (Jack Lilley)

The Last Outlaw (TV) – 1993 [head wrangler]

Bad Girls – 1994 [head wrangler]

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold – 1994 [boss wrangler]

Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (TV) – 1994 (Frisco) [key wrangler]

Dead Man’s Walk (TV) – 1996 [head wrangler]

Rough Riders (TV) – 1997 (stagecoach guard) [head wrangler]

Everything That Rises (TV) – 1998 [head wrangler]

The Magnificent Seven (TV) – 1998 (stagecoach driver)

The Ransom of Red Chief (TV) – 1998 [boss wrangler, stunts]

Durango Kids – 1999 [boss wrangler, stunts]

Horse Sense – 1999 [animal wrangler]

Comanche – 2000 [horse trainer]

Texas Rangers – 2001 [stunts]

The Last Cowboy (TV) – 2003 (Fuller) [boss wrangler]

The Legend of Zorro – 2005 [head of animal department]

Desolation Canyon (TV) – 2006 [boss wrangler, stunts]

Shiloh Falls – 2007 [head wrangler]

Avenging Angel (TV) – 2007 [wrangler]

Big Money Rustlas – 2010 [wrangler]

Black Knuckle and Deputy Maltese – 2018 [boss wrangler]

No Name and Dynamite Davenport – 2022 (Jack)

RIP Wings Hauser

 

R.I.P. Wings Hauser: prolific character actor has passed away at 77

Prolific character actor Wings Hauser, who has over 110 screen acting credits to his name, has passed away at age 77

JoBlo

By Cody Hamman

March 20, 2025

 

We have some sad news to share today, as the official Wings Hauser page on social media has revealed that the prolific character actor passed away over the weekend at the age of 77. As the post reads, “Movie icon Wings Hauser took flight in the arms of his film & music partner, Cali Lili Hauser at their studio this weekend.“

Known for having one of the coolest names in cinema history, Wings Hauser was actually born Gerald Dwight Hauser on December 12, 1947. “Wings” was part of a stage name (Wings Livinryte) he used for a 1975 folk music album called Your Love Keeps Me Off the Streets, and he was credited as Wings Livinryte when he appeared on an episode of the TV series Cannon that same year. After that, he moved on to calling himself Wings Hauser.

Hauser made his screen debut with an uncredited appearance in the 1967 film First to Fight. After that, he spent several years focusing on his music career rather than acting – and for a time in the 1970s, he was homeless, living in a vacant garage with his infant daughter Bright. The release of Your Love Keeps Me Off the Streets, along with the Cannon episode that enabled him to join the Screen Actors Guild, helped him afford more stable housing for himself and his daughter.

From 1975 to 2019, he worked steadily in film and television, racking up credits on more than 110 different projects. Those credits include episodes of Baretta, Emergency!; Magnum, P.I.; The Fall Guy, Hunter, Hardcastle and McCormick, Airwolf, The A-Team, Freddy’s Nightmares, China Beach, Lightning Force, The Young Riders, Roseanne; Walker, Texas Ranger; Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, JAG; Murder, She Wrote; Beverly Hills, 90210; Arli$$, CSI: Miami, House, Monk, Cold Case, Bones, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless, Hawaii Five-O, Castle, and more, as well as the films Rubber, The Insider, Original Gangstas, Tales from the Hood, Watchers III, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, Frame Up, Frame Up II: The Cover-Up, Bump in the Night, Bedroom Eyes II, A Soldier’s Story, Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel, Mutant, 3:15: The Moment of Truth, Who’ll Stop the Rain, The Carpenter, Nightmare at Noon, The Wind, Tough Guys Don’t Dance, Pale Blood; Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling; Out of Sight, Out of Mind, and more. He was in a lot of action movies and thrillers, with titles like The Killers Edge, Skins, Living to Die, Coldfire, Street Asylum, Marked for Murder, Reason to Die, L.A. Bounty, The Siege of Firebase Gloria, Dead Man Walking, No Safe Haven, Hostage, Dark Horse, Command 5, Deadly Force, and Hear No Evil.

Hauser may be best remembered for his performance as the homicidal pimp Ramrod in the 1982 film Vice Squad. He also sang that film’s theme song, “Neon Slime.” In addition to starring in the films Skins, The Art of Dying, Living to Die, and Coldfire, he also directed them. He co-wrote the screenplays for Skins and No Safe Haven, contributed to the script for Beastmaster 2, and came up with the story for the 1983 movie Uncommon Valor, which he didn’t appear in, but was credited as an associate producer on.

Wings Hauser was the father of daughter Bright with his first wife, Jane Boltinhouse. He had a son, actor Cole Hauser, with his second wife, Cass Warner Sperling. At the time of his death, he was married to Cali Lili Hauser.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Wings Hauser’s family, friends, and fans.

HAUSER, Wings (Gerald Dwight Hauser)

Born: 12/12/1947, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Died: 3/15/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Wings Hauser’s westerns – actor:

The Young Riders (TV) – 1992 (Randle)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1994 (Wayland Hampton)

Avenging Angel (TV) – 2007 (Colonel Cusack)