Jason Evers

Jason Evers
Clockwise from top: Eddie Dowling, Joan McCracken, and Jason Evers in Broadway play Angel in the Pawnshop (1951)
Born Herbert Evers
(1922-01-02)January 2, 1922
New York City, U.S.
Died March 13, 2005(2005-03-13) (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor: Wrangler and Channing
Years active 1943–1990
Spouse(s) Shirley Ballard (1953–1966) (divorced)
Diana James (1974–1975) (divorced)

Jason Evers (January 2, 1922 – March 13, 2005) was an American actor. He was the star of his own TV series. He portrayed a college professor in the 1963 ABC Television drama Channing.

Early life

Evers was born Herbert Evers[note 1][1] in New York City, New York. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City.[2]

After leaving high school early to join the United States Army,[3][note 2][2] Evers was so inspired by stars like John Wayne (who he would later appear with in The Green Berets) that he decided to try acting.

Career

A stint on Broadway led to Hollywood, where his first recurring role was on the 1960 NBC western television series, Wrangler.[4]:1198 On June 30, 1960, Evers appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[5] He was cast for an episode of the ABC western series, The Rebel ("Miz Purdy", 1961) appearing as George Tess.

Evers made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Stuart Benton in "The Case of the Difficult Detour" (1961), and defendant Roy Galen in "The Case of the Latent Lover" (1964). In "The Case of the Posthumous Painter" (also 1961), he played the defendant's brother.

In the 1963–1964 season, Evers starred as 41-year-old Professor Jason Howe in the 26-episode ABC drama series, Channing, based on life on a college campus.[4] His most enduring role derived from the 1959 B-movie classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which was not released until 1962.

Evers appeared in NBC's The Road West ("The Insider", 1966) starring Barry Sullivan as the patriarch of a family of pioneers relocated to Kansas. From 1967 to 1969, he appeared sporadically as James Sonnett, the missing son sought by the Walter Brennan character, Will Sonnett, in ABC's The Guns of Will Sonnett.[6]

Evers featured in an episode of the original Star Trek (Wink of an Eye, 1968) about a race of aliens who exist in a hyperaccelerated time frame and briefly take over the starship. The same year he appeared in the films The Green Berets, P.J. and A Man Called Gannon, and also appeared in sci-fi films such as The Illustrated Man (1969) and Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).

Evers continued to appear in films and television, in such series as "The Rockford Files", having guest starred with Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet episode "Eat, Drink and be Dead" (1966), but they were of an increasingly minor nature. Evers also appeared as a race car driver and a romantic interest of Doris Martin in The Doris Day Show in 1970. His later films included A Piece of the Action (1977), Claws (1977) and Barracuda (1978), and his final film appearance was in 1990 in Basket Case 2. He returned to New York in his later years.

Personal life

On December 24, 1953, Evers married actress Shirley Ballard; they divorced in September 1966. In 1974, he married Diana James, and they divorced in May 1975. Lucille Maross was "his final partner".[1]

Death

Evers died of heart failure in Los Angeles on March 13, 2005.[3]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ↑ The reference book Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary says, "Jason Evers was born Herbert Everin ..."
  2. ↑ An article published in the July 15, 1960, issue of the Lake Charles American Press says, "Jason Evers left school ... preferring to give himself more time to see acting ..." It goes on to say that he joined the U.S. Army after acting in a Broadway production.

References

  1. 1 2 Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. pp. 160&ndash, 161. ISBN 9781476662503. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Jason Evers Was Veteran Actor at 17". Lake Charles American-Press. Louisiana, Lake Charles. July 15, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved November 18, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 Jason Evers, 83; Actor Known for 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die', latimes.com; accessed January 16, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  5. ↑ "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show". ctva.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 231. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
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