RIP Michael Ansara

Updated on August 5, 2013 By Ken Begg 21 Comments

Syrian-born actor Michael Ansara passed away over the weekend. A gentleman, Ansara like many such made his bread and butter playing American Indians, including Cochise in the TV western series Broken Arrow.

However, Mr. Ansara will be far dearer in these corners for the wide range of genre roles he assayed. His greatest fame probably rests on playing the Klingon Commander Kang in three different iterations of Star Trek: The Original Series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. He was one of very few not recurring cast members to assay such a feat.

Mr. Ansara also starred in The Manitu, a great junk classic, played the recurring villain Kane in the Buck Rogers TV show of the ’80s, and voiced Mr. Freeze in Batman the Animated Series and attendant spin-offs. Other films he appeared in include Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (he also appeared on the TV show), Doll Squad, Dear Dead Delilah, Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive and Day of the Animals.

His episodic TV appearances are nearly too long to list. Like many actors of his generation, he seemed to appear on nearly every western, sci-fi series, sitcom and crime show of the ’60s and ’70s.

Among his three wives was Barbara Eden, from 1958 to 1974.

Mr. Ansara was 91 at the time of his passing.

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  • Flangepart

    Kang has gone to the Black Fleet. R.I.P. sir, and may your adversaries be worthy of you.

  • David Fullam

    We’ve lost too many good people this year.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Ye gods! I barely even knew the an”s name and yet he appeared in some of my most beloved movies and TV shows (looks like Freeze and Nora finally got back together)! RIP, Mister Ansara and I loved your work.

  • bgbear_rnh

    a definitive example of “exotic actor rule”.

  • Ken_Begg

    Pretty much, yes.

  • Eric Hinkle

    “Exotic Actor Rule”? Is this a Jabootuism?

  • The Rev.

    Dunno if it’s a Jabootuism, but it’s a fairly well-known Hollywood trope, where anyone being remotely foreign-looking will be stuck into roles playing a variety of ethnicities. Armand Assante, Yul Brynner and the late Mr. Ansara are examples I can think of.

    Of course, maybe Ken did come up with that particular turn of phrase; in his review of Firewalker, Ken mentions John Rhys-Davies as someone who falls under the EAR.

    Oh, also Lou Diamond Phillips. “The Aquabats Super Show!” had a great bit where he played a hilariously stereotypical Indian spirit guide, with just enough of a wink to let us know they got the joke about his role.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Thanks for the definition — and John Rhys-Davies qualifies as an ‘exotic actor’? Isn’t he Welsh?

  • Rock Baker

    Maybe so, but he plays a variety of parts extremely well. I always look forward to seeing him in 80’s adventure movies.

  • Rock Baker

    The most famous and highly acclaimed such star was probably Anthony Quinn.

    Acting used to involve a lot more range before political correctness dictated that any ethnicity must be played by an actor of same.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I like him myself. It seems odd to me that a guy as skilled as Mister Rhys-Davies always ends up with lesser roles in genre flicks rather than the big roles actors with much less skill than him have gotten.

  • Rock Baker

    Maybe he’s happier doing character parts? I know some actors are. He has a pretty showy part in ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING. It’s the story of Esther, so he isn’t the main player, but he really finishes the flick with a bang!

  • Eric Hinkle

    If he’s happier that way then I’m glad for him. It’s just that I remember him in howlers like Chupacabra;Dark Seas and Sabertoooth and I was wondering “Why is a skilled actor like Mr. R-D in schlock like this?”

  • The Rev.

    He is indeed Welsh.

    I get the feeling he’s just a working actor, and not everything he’s offered is going to be worthy of his talents. He can’t wait around for the good stuff, either, since I’m sure he’s got bills like most of us. I put him in the same category as I do Michael Caine, Christopher Lee, and the late Ernest Borgnine, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price: they did great movies, and they did stinkers, but they were always working. They were invariably part of the reason the great movies were so, but were also talented enough that they were rarely, if ever, part of the problem with the stinkers.

  • Gamera977

    From some of Rhys-Davies comments he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously and enjoys being in cheesy movies as well as quality ones.

  • Eric Hinkle

    In that case he’s a very fortunate and probably a rather happy man.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I have to agree; Mister Rhys-Davis has appeared in some bombs but he’s typically one of the brighter spots in them.

  • Gamera977

    Just dug up a copy of the PC game ‘Dune 2000’ and have been playing it this week. It stars Rhys-Davies as a rather jolly Mentat! I believe he was in one of the ‘Wing Commander’ games as well as a few other computer/video games.

  • The Rev.

    Gamera977: That wouldn’t surprise me; he’s struck me as pretty down-to-earth and happy with his lot in life. Good on him if that’s the case.

  • Rock Baker

    I’d also include George Kennedy in that list.

  • The Rev.

    I’ll take your word for it; it occurs to me I’ve really not seen much with him in it. Off-hand all I can think of is Demonwarp, and although it’s been years, I don’t recall him being a detriment to the movie.