Product Code Database
Michael George Ansara (; April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was a Syrian Americans actor. He was often cast in Arabs and Native American roles. His work in both film and television spanned several genres, including Epic film, Westerns, and science fiction.
He portrayed Cochise in the television series Broken Arrow 1956-1958, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in the NBC series Law of the Plainsman, Commander Kang in , , and , Kane in the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and provided the voice for Mr. Freeze in the DC Animated Universe.
Ansara was married three times, each time to an actress. He was first married to Jean Byron, who played Patty Duke's mother on The Patty Duke Show. They divorced in 1956. While starring in the Broken Arrow series, he met and married Barbara Eden. They appeared in the 1961 film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea together, and Ansara appeared in several episodes of Eden's series, I Dream of Jeannie. They had one son together before divorcing in 1974. His final marriage was to Beverly Kushida in 1977, and they remained together until his death in 2013.
Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard.
In 1953, he was cast in Serpent of the Nile along with his first wife, actress Jean Byron. That same year he appeared as Pindarus in Joseph Mankiewicz's big screen adaptation of Julius Caesar, with Marlon Brando, James Mason and John Gielgud.
Ansara also appeared in other biblical films, including (1947) and Slaves of Babylon (1953), which was based on the biblical story of Daniel.
Ansara starred in the ABC-TV series, Law of the Plainsman (1959–1960), with Gina Gillespie and Robert Harland. He performed as an Apache named Sam Buckhart, who had been appointed as a U.S. Marshal. The series began as an episode of The Rifleman. This was the first American network series to feature an American Indian as a full-fledged lawman.
Ansara guest starred on several other television Westerns, including The Rebel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Virginian, Branded, Daniel Boone, and Gunsmoke. He also starred in several more Western films, including The Comancheros, Texas Across the River, and Guns of the Magnificent Seven.
In 1978, Ansara starred as Lame Beaver in the acclaimed miniseries Centennial, based on the novel by James A. Michener.
His final Western was Border Shootout (1990) starring Glenn Ford. This was also Ford's final Western.
He appeared with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955).
He appeared in all of the Irwin Allen television series. This included two episodes of the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea after having starred in the film of the same name, The Outer Limits, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.
He played the recurring role of Killer Kane in the 1979–1980 season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The role had originally been played by Henry Silva in the 1979 pilot movie.
In the science fiction genre, he is noted for appearing as the Klingon commander Kang. His first appearance as Kang was in the ("Day of the Dove"), followed by appearances of the same character in two other Star Trek television series, ("") and (""). He is one of seven actors to play the same character on three Star Trek television series. In 1994, Ansara portrayed the Technomage "Elric" in the Babylon 5 episode "The Geometry of Shadows".
In the 1970s, Ansara appeared in a number of low budget exploitation films, including Dear Dead Delilah (1972), Day of the Animals (1977), and The Manitou (1978). He received top billing in the Z movie called The Doll Squad (1973).
In 1976, Ansara starred in the historical epic Mohammad, Messenger of God (also titled The Message), about the origin of Islam and the message of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Ansara was also known for his voice work. He voiced the Ancient One in the 1978 television film Dr. Strange. He was a narrator on the PBS series Reading Rainbow. He was the voice of Mr. Freeze in two episodes of , the animated film , The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, and the video game .
On February 8, 1960, Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard.
In 1957, when Ansara was starring in the Broken Arrow television series, Booker McClay at Twentieth Century Fox arranged for him to be seen dating How to Marry a Millionaire star, Barbara Eden. At the time, Eden was already dating someone, but he was not an actor. The studio thought it was good for publicity for each of them to be seen with another star. Ansara was not initially interested. He was already a Hollywood heartthrob with female fans around the world. Ansara married Eden in 1958. They co-starred in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in 1961. They also appeared together in the 1964 comedy film, Seven Different Ways. The couple had a son, Matthew Ansara. In every episode of I Dream of Jeannie, Eden wore a diamond pendant necklace that had been given to her by Ansara. According to Eden in her 2011 autobiography, it was to keep Michael close to her heart. During I Dream of Jeannie, Ansara was working less and Eden was working more, so there was a divergence in their earning power. The loss of their second child, their diverging careers, and the shift in their earning power strained their marriage. Ansara and Eden eventually divorced in 1974.
He married actress Beverly Kushida in 1977. They appeared together in The Manitou. They remained married until Ansara's death.
On June 25, 2001, his son Matthew (named after Matthew Farage) died from a heroin Drug overdose in Monrovia, California.
Ansara died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at his home in Calabasas on July 31, 2013, at the age of 91. His interment is at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, next to his son Matthew.
| 1944 | Action in Arabia | Hamid | Uncredited |
| Can't Help Singing | California Caballero | Uncredited | |
| 1947 | Intrigue | Ramon's Radio Man | |
| 1947 | Zabad | ||
| 1949 | Outpost in Morocco | Rifle Dispenser | Uncredited |
| 1950 | South Sea Sinner | Native Policeman | Uncredited |
| The Desert Hawk | Guard | Uncredited | |
| Kim | Harem Guard | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | Soldiers Three | Manik Rao | |
| Only the Valiant | Tucsos | ||
| Smuggler's Island | Sikh Policeman | Uncredited | |
| Bannerline | Floyd | ||
| My Favorite Spy | House Servant | Uncredited | |
| 1952 | Brave Warrior | The Prophet | |
| Diplomatic Courier | Ivan | Uncredited | |
| Yankee Buccaneer | Lieutenant Romero | ||
| The Golden Hawk | Bernardo Díaz | ||
| Road to Bali | Guard | Uncredited | |
| 1953 | The Lawless Breed | Gus Hanley | Uncredited |
| The Bandits of Corsica | Blacksmith | ||
| Serpent of the Nile | Captain Florus | ||
| Julius Caesar | Pindarus | ||
| White Witch Doctor | De Gama | Uncredited | |
| The Robe | Judas | Uncredited | |
| Slaves of Babylon | Prince Belshazzar | ||
| The Diamond Queen | Mir Jumla, the Mogul's general | ||
| 1954 | Three Young Texans | Apache Joe | |
| Drums of Tahiti | Opening Narrator | Uncredited | |
| The Saracen Blade | Count Alesandro Siniscola | ||
| Princess of the Nile | Captain Kral | ||
| The Egyptian | Hittite Commander | Uncredited | |
| Bengal Brigade | Sergeant Major Puran Singh | ||
| Sign of the Pagan | Edecon | ||
| 1955 | Jupiter's Darling | Maharbal | |
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy | Charlie | ||
| New Orleans Uncensored | Floyd 'Zero' Saxon | ||
| 1956 | Diane | Count Ridolfi | |
| The Lone Ranger | Angry Horse | ||
| Gun Brothers | Shawnee Jack | ||
| Pillars of the Sky | Kamiakin | ||
| The Ten Commandments | Taskmaster | Uncredited | |
| 1957 | Last of the Badmen | Kramer | |
| Quantez | Delgadito | ||
| The Tall Stranger | Zarata | ||
| The Sad Sack | Moki | Uncredited | |
| 1961 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Miguel Alvarez | |
| The Comancheros | Amelung | ||
| 1964 | Quick, Let's Get Married | Mayor Pablo | |
| 1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Herod's Commander | |
| Harum Scarum | Prince Dragna | ||
| 1966 | ...And Now Miguel | Blas Chavez | |
| Texas Across the River | Iron Jacket | ||
| 1968 | The Destructors | Count Mario Romano | |
| Sol Madrid | Captain Ortega | ||
| Daring Game | President Eduardo Delgado | ||
| The Pink Jungle | Raul Ortega | ||
| 1969 | Major Milos Segora | ||
| Guns of the Magnificent Seven | Colonel Diego | ||
| 1970 | The Phynx | Colonel Rostinov | |
| 1972 | Dear Dead Delilah | Morgan Charles | |
| Stand Up and Be Counted | Playboy Speaker | ||
| 1973 | The Doll Squad | Eamon O'Reilly | |
| 1974 | It's Alive | The Captain | |
| The Bears and I | Oliver Red Fern | ||
| 1976 | The Message | Abu Sufyan | |
| 1977 | The Manitou | John Singing Rock | |
| Day of the Animals | Daniel Santee | ||
| Mission to Glory: A True Story | Chief Coxi | ||
| 1980 | Beyond Evil | Troido | |
| 1981 | The Guns and the Fury | Prince Sohrab | |
| 1984 | Access Code | Senator Dales | |
| 1985 | Lyman Taylor | ||
| 1986 | Knights of the City | Mr. Delamo | |
| 1987 | Assassination | Senator Bunsen | |
| 1990 | Border Shootout | Chuluha | |
| 1998 | Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze | Voice, direct-to-video | |
| 1999 | The Long Road Home | Murdock Haynes | Final film role |
| 1951 | Family Theater | Decius | Episode: "That I May See" |
| Episode: "Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration" | |||
| 1951 | Dangerous Assignment | Bulga | Episode: "The Mine Story" |
| Hugo | Episode: "The Bodyguard Story" | ||
| Chin | Episode: "The One Blue Chip Story" | ||
| Kursta | Episode: "The Decoy Story" | ||
| 1951 | The Lone Ranger | Episode: "Trouble at Black Rock" | |
| 1954 | Dragnet | Carl Chapman | Episode: "The Big Rod" |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Butcher | Season 1 Episode 18: "Shopping For Death" |
| Desar | Season 1 Episode 29: "The Orderly World of Mr. Appelby" | ||
| Mr. DeMario | Season 1 Episode 32: "The Baby Sitter" | ||
| 1956–1958 | Broken Arrow | Cochise | Contract role |
| 1957 | Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans | Ogana | Episode: "Hawkeye's Homecoming" |
| 1959 | The Rifleman | Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart | Episode: "The Indian" |
| Episode: "The Raid" | |||
| 1959–60 | Law of the Plainsman | Contract role | |
| 1960–1961 | The Untouchables | Charlie Steuben | Episode: "Nicky" |
| Rafael Torrez | Episode" "The Jamaica Ginger Story" | ||
| 1960 | The Rebel | Docker Mason | Episode: "The Champ" |
| 1961 | Wagon Train | Northstar | Episode: "The Patience Miller Story" |
| 1963 | Rawhide | Joseph | Episode: "Incident of Iron Bull" |
| 1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Malinoff | Episode: "Hot Line" |
| Perry Mason | Vince Kabat | Episode: "The Case of the Antic Angel" | |
| The Outer Limits | Quarlo Clobregnny | Episode: "Soldier" | |
| 1965–66 | The Virginian | Marshall Merle Frome | Episode: "Showdown" |
| Paul Dallman | Episode: "High Stakes" | ||
| 1965 | Branded | Thomas Frye | Episode: "The Bounty" |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Sulador | Episode: "The Arabian Affair" | |
| 1966 | Lost in Space | The Ruler | Episode: "The Challenge" |
| Daniel Boone | Sebastian Drake | Episode: "The Enchanted Gun" | |
| Episode: "The Search" | |||
| Bewitched | Rufus the Red | Episode: "A Most Unusual Wood Nymph" | |
| The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | Vizier | Episode: The Prisoner of the Zalamar Affair | |
| Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Capt. Tomas Ruiz | Episode: "The Killers of the Deep" | |
| 1966 | I Dream of Jeannie | Blue Djinn | Episode: "Happy Anniversary" |
| 1968 | King Kamehameha | Episode: "The Battle of Waikiki" | |
| 1969 | Major Biff Jellico | Episode: "My Sister, the Home Wrecker" | |
| 1970 | Director | Episode: "One Jeannie Beats Four of a Kind" | |
| 1966–67 | Gunsmoke | Grey Horse | Episode: "Honor Before Justice" |
| Luke Todd | Episode: "The Returning" | ||
| The Time Tunnel | Curator | Episode: "Secret Weapon" | |
| Episode: "The Kidnappers" | |||
| 1967 | The Fugitive | Officer Miguel 'Mike' Anza | Episode: "The Savage Street" |
| 1968 | Commander Kang | Episode: "Day of the Dove" | |
| Tarzan | Regis | Episode: "Trek to Terror" | |
| 1969 | Major Milos Segora | Television film intended as a television pilot | |
| Land of the Giants | Murtrah | Episode: "On a Clear Night You Can See Earth" | |
| 1971 | The Mod Squad | Ray Abruzzi | Episode: "A Double for Danger" |
| Bearcats! | Paco Morales | Episode: "Powderkeg" | |
| 1972 | The Streets of San Francisco | Albert 'Al' Ferguson | Episode: "The Year of the Locusts" |
| Hawaii Five-O | Piro Manoa | Episode: "Death is a Company Policy" | |
| 1973 | Call to Danger | Frank Mulvey | Television film |
| Ed Stoner | Episode: "The Western" | ||
| Ordeal | Sheriff Peter Geeson | Television film | |
| 1974 | Nakia | Howard Gray Hawk | Episode: "The Dream" |
| 1975 | The Barbary Coast | Diamond Jack Bassiter | Episode: "Television pilot" |
| 1976 | The Rockford Files | Joseph DiMinna | Episode: "Joey Blue Eyes" |
| Kojak | Keith McCallum | Episode: "Justice Deferred" | |
| 1978 | Dr. Strange | Ancient One | Voice, television film; uncredited |
| Centennial | Lame Beaver | Miniseries | |
| 1979 | The Story of Esther | Haman | Television film |
| 1979–80 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | Kane | Recurring |
| 1980 | CHiPs | Nathan McCallister | Episode: "The Poachers" |
| Fantasy Island | Ptolemy | "My Fair Pharoh/The Power" | |
| 1981 | Thundarr the Barbarian | Vashtar | Voice, episode: "Prophecy of Peril" |
| Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends | Hiawatha Smith | Voice, episode: "Quest of the Red Skull" | |
| 1982 | Bayou Romance | Zanko | Television film |
| 1983, 1993 | Reading Rainbow | Self - Narrator | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins | Turk | Television film |
| 1985 | Hunter | General Mariano | Episode: "Rape and Revenge, Part 1 & 2" |
| Hardcastle and McCormick | Sheik Abdullah Casir | Episode: "Mirage a Trois" | |
| 1986 | General Warhawk | Voice, 63 episodes | |
| The Fall Guy | Cyril Duncan | Episode: "Miami's Nice" | |
| 1987 | The New Mike Hammer | Sandor Kraken | Episode: "A Blinding Fear" |
| 1988 | Murder, She Wrote | Nicholas Rossi | Episode: "The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel" |
| 1992–1994 | Mr. Freeze / Dr. Victor Fries | Voice, episode: "Heart of Ice" | |
| Voice, episode: "Deep Freeze" | |||
| 1994 | Babylon 5 | Elric | Episode: "The Geometry of Shadows" |
| Kang | Episodes "" | ||
| 1996 | Jeyal | Episode: "" | |
| Kang | Episode: "" | ||
| 1997 | The New Batman Adventures | Mr. Freeze / Dr. Victor Fries | Voice, episode: "Cold Comfort" |
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | Voice, episode: "Meltdown" |
| 2001 | Mr. Freeze / Dr. Victor Fries | Final acting role |
| 1997 | Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard | Malfeasor |
|
|
