Jason Evers (born Herbert Everberg[1] or Herbert Everin;[2] January 2, 1922 – March 13, 2005) was an American actor. He was the star of the 1963 ABC television drama Channing.

Jason Evers
Evers in the Broadway play Angel in the Pawnshop (1951)
Born
Herbert Everberg[1] or Herbert Everin [2]

(1922-01-02)January 2, 1922
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 13, 2005(2005-03-13) (aged 83)
Other namesHerbert Evers
Herb Evers
OccupationActor
Years active1943–1990
Spouses
(m. 1953; div. 1966)
Diana James
(m. 1974; div. 1975)

Early life

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Evers was born either as Herbert Everberg[1] or Herbert Everin[2] in New York City; he attended DeWitt Clinton High School there.[3] His parents' names are recorded [where?] as William Everin (1894–1972) and Hilda (Weiserbs) Everin (1902–1995) and he had a younger sister, Lucille (1929–2015).

After leaving high school early to join the United States Army,[4][note 1][3] Evers was so inspired by stars such as John Wayne (with whom he would later appear in The Green Berets) that he decided to try acting.[5]

Career

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Roles on Broadway led to Hollywood, where his first recurring role was on the 1960 NBC Western television series Wrangler.[6]: 1198  On June 30, 1960, Evers appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[7] 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.[1]

In the 1963–64 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.[6] His most enduring role derived from the 1959 B-movie classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which was not released until 1962.[8][9]

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.[10]

Evers and Kathie Browne featured in the 1968 Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Wink of an Eye". That same year, he also 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).[1]

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.[1]

Personal life

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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.[11]

Death

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Evers died of heart failure in Los Angeles on March 13, 2005, aged 83.[4]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1943 Guadalcanal Diary Minor Role Uncredited
1944 Greenwich Village Young Man Uncredited
1944 Three Is a Family Naval Officer Uncredited
1960 Pretty Boy Floyd Sheriff Blackie Faulkner
1962 The Brain That Wouldn't Die Dr. Bill Cortner
1962 House of Women Dr. F.M. Conrad
1966 Dawn of Victory Jesus Short
1968 P.J. Jason Grenoble
1968 A Man Called Gannon Mills
1968 The Green Berets Capt. Coleman
1969 The Illustrated Man Simmons
1971 Escape from the Planet of the Apes E-2
1977 A Piece of the Action Ty Shorter
1977 Claws Jason Monroe
1979 Barracuda Dr. Elliot Snow
1985 The Stuff Stuff Character
1990 Basket Case 2 Lou the Editor (final film role)

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1949 NBC Presents Episode: "Anything But Love"
1949 Kraft Television Theatre Episode: "A Young Man's Fancy"
1949 Colgate Theatre Episode: "Old Flame"
1949–1950 The Philco Television Playhouse Paris 2 episodes
1950 Believe It or Not! Episode: "Murder in Diamonds"
1951 Studio One Scott Magruder 2 episodes
1951 Armstrong Circle Theatre Episode: "Day Dreams"
1955 Omnibus Paris Episode: "Iliad"
1955–1959 The Phil Silvers Show Lieutenant / Interviewer / Capt. Kyler / Lt. Kissel 9 episodes
1959 True Story Clifford Lowe Episode dated 10 October 1959
1959 New York Confidential Honig Episode: "Crossed Eyed Camera"
1959 Deadline Larry Episode: "Suspicion of Murder"
1960 Wrangler Pitcairn 6 episodes
1960–1961 Cheyenne Andy Clark / Carl Tower 2 episodes
1961 Hong Kong Bradley Gardner Episode: "Suitable for Framing"
1961 The Rebel George Tess Episode: "Miz Purdy"
1961 Lawman Shag Warner Episode: "Blind Hate"
1961 Surfside 6 Don Canfield Episode: "Count Seven!"
1961 77 Sunset Strip Waco Tate Episode: "The Desert Spa Caper"
1961 Bronco Henry Riley Episode: "Prince of Darkness"
1961 Tallahassee 7000 Ed Morse Episode: "Man Bait"
1961–1962 Laramie Hank Emory / Carl Sanford / Hanson 3 episodes
1961–1964 Perry Mason Roy Galen / Clint Robert Miller / Stuart Benton 3 episodes

Episode: "The Case of the Latent Lover" / Episode: "The Case of the Posthumous Painter" / Episode: "The Case of the Difficult Detour"

1961–1967 Bonanza Tom Blackwell / J.D. Lambert 2 episodes
1962 Bus Stop Tony Stratton Episode: "Cry to Heaven"
1962 Adventures in Paradise Rick Leyton Episode: "Please Believe Me"
1962 Tales of Wells Fargo Tom Kelly Episode: "Remember the Yazoo"
1962 Frontier Circus Judd Halleck Episode: "The Good Fight"
1962 The Defenders Steve Janos Episode: "The Bigamist"
1962–1963 Alcoa Premiere Professor Joseph Howe 2 episodes
1962–1964 Gunsmoke Charlie Ross / Collie / Ben Harden 3 episodes
1963–1964 Channing Professor Joseph Howe 26 episodes
1965 Branded Father Jason Durant Episode: "The Test"
1965 Death Valley Days Dan Hardy Episode: "Birthright"
1965–1966 The F.B.I. Captain Thomas / Allen Bennett 2 episodes
1965–1968 The Big Valley George Akers / Colter 2 episodes
1966 T.H.E. Cat Father Francis Langland Episode: "To Kill a Priest"
1966 The Virginian Sheriff Harry Lundy Episode: "An Echo of Thunder"
1966 The Green Hornet Dirk Episode: "Eat, Drink, and Be Dead"
1966 Combat! Pvt. Jim Culley Episode: "The Outsider"
1967 The Road West Divvy Peters Episode: "The Insider"
1967 The Invaders Maj. Dan Keller Episode: "Condition: Red"
1967 Three for Danger Kirk Television film
1967 Tarzan Ramon 2 episodes
1967 Run for Your Life Garret Hamilton Episode: "Fly by Night"
1967–1968 Felony Squad William Reardon / Eliot Rogers 2 episodes
1967–1968 The Wild Wild West Commander Beech / Christopher Kohner 2 episodes
1967–1969 The Guns of Will Sonnett James 'Jim' Sonnett 13 episodes
1968 Judd, for the Defense Alec Spinner Episode: "No Law Against Murder"
1968 Star Trek Rael S3:E11, "Wink of an Eye"
1968 It Takes a Thief Aubrey Lathum Episode: "Glass Riddle"
1968–1973 Mannix Dana Royal / Josh Martin / Ross / Charles Egan / Assassin 5 episodes
1969 The Mod Squad Sheriff Episode: "The Uptight Town"
1969 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors Dr. Ralph Simpson Episode: "What's the Price of a Pair of Eyes?"
1969 The Young Lawyers Michael Cannon Episode: "The Young Lawyers"
1969–1973 Mission: Impossible Colonel Oleg Kemmer/Ben Nelson / Carl Deetrich / Ray Dunson / Walter Townsend 4 episodes

Episode: "The Question" / Episode: "Blind" / Episode: "Double Circle" / Episode: "The Mind of Stefan Miklos"

1969–1979 Hawaii Five-O Lieutenant Dexter / Wallis / Charles Irwin 3 episodes

Episode" "Good Help Is Hard to Find" / Episode: "Cloth of Gold" / Episode: "All the King's Horses"

1970 The Doris Day Show David Cowley Episode: "The Feminist"
1970 Medical Center Ken Palmer Episode: "Scream of Silence"
1970–1975 Marcus Welby, M.D. Dick Shearer 2 episodes
1971 Dan August Walter Boyd Episode: "Circle of Lies"
1971–1974 Cannon Hollinger / Lt. Jim Farragut / Edgar Bruce / Art Miller 4 episodes
1973 Banacek Roger Sloan Episode: "The Two Million Clams of Cap'n Jack"
1973 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Barrington Episode: "Once a Lion"
1973 The Rookies Ben Tabnor Episode: "Sound of Silence"
1973–1976 The Streets of San Francisco Ben Rush / Johnny Harmon 2 episodes

Episode: "Underground" / Episode: "The Set-Up"

1974 The Wide World of Mystery Martin Forester Episode: "Shadow of Fear"
1974 Ironside Ted Kelly Episode: "Class of '40"
1974 Police Story Sergeant Arnold Episode: "Country Boy"
1974 Hec Ramsey Pete Jonas Episode: "Scar Tissue"
1974 Fer-de-Lance Commander Kirk Television film
1974 The Manhunter Episode: "The Doomsday Gang"
1974 Kodiak Darcy Episode: "The Hunters"
1974–1976 Barnaby Jones Herb Dorset / Gil Turner 2 episodes
1975 Caribe Ed Robbins Episode: "Vanished"
1975 Matt Helm Alan Grant Episode: "Scavenger's Paradise"
1976 Switch Capt. Topping Episode: "Come Die with Me"
1976 McMillan & Wife Roland Merrill Episode: "All Bets Off"
1977 The Fantastic Journey Atar 2 episodes
1977 Most Wanted Duncan Taylor Episode: "The Insider"
1977 Quincy, M.E. Dr. Peter James Episode: "Valleyview"
1977 The Bionic Woman Radnik Episode: "Rodeo"
1977–1978 The Rockford Files Brad Davies / Paul Silvan 2 episodes
1978 Charlie's Angels Larry Fallon Episode: "The Sandcastle Murders"
1978 Emergency! Justin Manning Episode: "Survival on Charter #220"
1978 Happy Days H.R. Buchanan 3 episodes
1978 CHiPs Fred Gesslin Episode: "Supercycle"
1979 The Runaways Randolph Episode: "Screams in the Night"
1980 Vegas Lloyd Kohler Episode: "A Deadly Victim"
1981 Hart to Hart Harrison Episode: "Ex-Wives Can Be Murder"
1981 Fantasy Island Ben Episode: "Chorus Girl/Surrogate Father"
1981 Golden Gate Harry Stillwell Television film
1982–1983 The Fall Guy Frank Forester / Gordon 2 episodes
1982–1984 Knight Rider Edward Grant / Herb Bremen 2 episodes
1983 Small & Frye Mr. Ackly Episode: "Endangered Detectives"
1984 T. J. Hooker Warren Avery Episode: "Hot Property"
1984 Glitter David Episode: "Pilot"
1984 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Jerry Perrine Episode: "Charity Begins at Home"
1985 The Dukes of Hazzard Larson Episode: "The Haunting of J.D. Hogg"
1985 Murder, She Wrote Dr. Marshall MacGill Episode: "My Johnny Lies Over the Ocean"
1986 The A-Team Bart Taggart Episode: "Mission of Peace"
1987 Matlock Dr. Jim Lord Episode: "The Gift"

Notes

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  1. ^ 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

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Lentz III, Harris M. (2008). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2005: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-7864-2489-4.
  2. ^ a b c "Herbert Everin".
  3. ^ a b "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.  
  4. ^ a b Jason Evers, 83; Actor Known for 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die', Los Angeles Times; accessed January 16, 2016.
  5. ^ "Overview for Jason Evers". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  7. ^ "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show". ctva.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  8. ^ Thompson, Nathaniel. "The Brain That Wouldn't Die". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  9. ^ Packer, Sharon (2014). Neuroscience in Science Fiction Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7864-7234-5.
  10. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland & Company. p. 231. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  11. ^ Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-4766-6250-3.
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