Dana Elcar

Dana Elcar was born on October 10, 1927 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA as Ibsen Dana Elcar.

Attended University of Michigan. Founded Ann Arbor Theater, while in college.Joined the U.S. Navy in 1948: Was stationed in Newfoundland, Canada.

He made guest appearances on both of the longest running prime time dramas in US television history: Gunsmoke (1955) and Law & Order (1990).

Dana drove taxicab in New York City in the early 1960s prior to making the move to Los Angeles and Hollywood.

Bald and Beefy American character actor from the off-Broadway stage, a noticeably gruff presence in scores of 1970s TV crime shows and action adventure.

He was an actor and director, known for The Sting (1973), MacGyver (1985) and 2010 (1984). He was married to Marianne Torrance, Mary Margaret "Peggy" Romano and Kathryn Frances Mead.

Befriended Richard Dean Anderson on the set of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in 1982. Anderson remembered Elcar when production on "MacGyver" started, and recommended Elcar for the part of Pete Thornton, MacGyver's friend and director of operations at The Phoenix Foundation. Elcar appeared in almost every episode of the show, only backing out when becoming ill in his later years.

When he started going blind, his character Peter Thornton on MacGyver (1985) was also written with the same affliction. His blindness was also written into his guest appearance on Law & Order (1990), resulting from Diabetic Retinopathy.

He was awarded the 1986 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Direction for "Rat in the Skull," at the Mark Taper Too Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Went blind due to Glaucoma c. 1991 and required special computer equipment to read printed text for the rest of his life.

At the time of his death in 2005, he was survived by his companion, Thelma M. Garcia, one son, Dane, and three daughters, Nora, Chandra and Marin.