Eugene Roche

Eugene Harrison Roche (September 22, 1928 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor. He was probably best known as the original "Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials.

Personal life

Roche was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary M. (née Finnegan) and Robert F. Roche, who was at the time serving in the U.S. Navy. He served in the United States Army after graduating high school.

He married Marjory Perkins in 1953; the couple had nine children, including actor Eamonn Roche and Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Sean Roche. They divorced in 1981. Eugene Roche remarried in 1982 and remained married to his second wife, Anntoni C. Roche (née Bratman), until his death in 2004.

Career

Roche made his Broadway debut in 1961 as a bit player in the play Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole with Darren McGavin and went on to appear in Mother Courage with Anne Bancroft in 1963, and in The White House with Helen Hayes in 1964. Television comedy would become his forte with recurring roles on Soap, Night Court, Webster, and Perfect Strangers. Roche appeared as "Pinky Peterson", one of Archie Bunker's buddies, on several episodes of All in the Family, in mostly comedic episodes. He had supporting parts in such feature films as The Late Show (1977), Foul Play (1978), and Corvette Summer (1978).