Richard Jaeckel

Stocky tough-guy character actor Richard Jaeckel was one of Hollywood's most prolific supporting stars. Born in Long Island, New York, on October 10, 1926, Jaeckel's family moved to Los Angeles when he was still in his teens. After graduation from Hollywood High School, Jaeckel was discovered by a casting director while working as a mailboy for 20th Century-Fox.

Although he had some reluctance to act, Jaeckel accepted a key part in the war epic Guadalcanal Diary (1943) and remained in films for over 50 years, graduating from playing baby-faced teenagers (like Dick Clark, Jaeckel never seemed to age) to gunfighters and hired killers with ease.

From 1944-48 he served in the US Navy, and after his discharge he co-starred in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) with John Wayne.

In November of 1948, while he and his wife were in San Francisco, his oldest son, then 14 months old, fell into the family swimming pool and nearly drowned. His uncle, John Marches, happened to come into the backyard and find the baby.

A favorite of director Robert Aldrich, Jaeckel appeared in seven of his films throughout his career, including Aldrich's first feature Big Leaguer (1953) in 1953 and his last ...All the Marbles (1981) in 1981.

Has been in three different projects about outlaw Billy the Kid. In 1954 he played Billy the Kid in an episode of Stories of the Century (1954). In 1970 he appeared in Chisum (1970) as Jess Evans, a former sidekick of Billy the Kid, and then in 1973 he appeared in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) as Sheriff Kip McKinney, who assists in capturing the infamous outlaw.

Jaeckel's other notable roles in films include one of a trio of GIs accused of raping a German girl in Town Without Pity (1961)--a standout performance--and The Dirty Dozen (1967) as tough MP Sgt.

Although he appeared in over 70 films, he was very active in television series such as Frontier Circus (1961), Banyon (1971), Firehouse (1974), Salvage 1 (1979), At Ease (1983), Spenser: For Hire (1985) and Supercarrier (1988).

In the early 1970s he and his wife owned a German Shepherd named "Cruncher". Cruncher was the name of a character he played on the Mike Connors series Tightrope (1959).

Jaeckel also received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his funny but tragic performance in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971).

According to Robert Osborne in "Academy Awards 1972 Oscar Annual," Jaeckel got the role in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971) when Paul Newman ran into him at Malibu Beach. Jaeckel was relaxing and swimming with his family and friends, and as Newman watched him playing with his own children, he thought that Jaeckel would be just right to play his brother in the film. Newman subsequently stood up for casting Jaeckel at later conferences with studio management, and he got the part, and an Oscar nomination.

Clyde Bowren, who goes along on the mission to keep an eye on the prisoners he's trained, a role he reprised in a made-for-TV sequel in 1985.

Ben Edwards on the hit series Baywatch (1989).

From 1991-94 he played Lt.

Was forced to file bankruptcy in early 1994 due to a $1.7-million debt, and eventually he lost his home in Brentwood, CA, and most of his possessions. He later moved into the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Center in Woodland Hills, a retirement home for actors and other motion picture people, where he stayed for the next three years until his death in June of 1997.

Although Jaeckel was battling cancer, director Joe Dante had originally hoped that he would be able to return to work and provide the voice of Link Static for his project Small Soldiers (1998). This film reunited Jaeckel's fellow cast members from The Dirty Dozen (1967). Jaeckel died from his cancer before shooting began.