Hansford Rowe

Hansford Herndon Rowe Jr. (May 12, 1924 – September 5, 2017) was an American actor whose career spanned film, television, and stage across several decades. Born in Richmond, Virginia, he was the son of Virginia Isabel (née Willis) and Hansford Herndon Rowe, a veterinarian, and grew up as one of five siblings. He attended John Marshall High School before serving in the United States Navy during World War II, stationed in the South Pacific aboard a minesweeper warship as a radio controller. Following his military service, he earned a degree in Theater Arts from the University of Richmond.

Rowe's Broadway career extended from 1968 to 1985 and included productions such as Singin' in the Rain, Da, Porgy and Bess, the comedy Boy Meets Girl, and Nuts. His 1980 appearance in Nuts earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.

His television work began with a 1967 TV movie, The Thanksgiving Visitor. The following year he appeared in three episodes of the cult series Dark Shadows in a non-speaking role as a judge, and in 1969 he played a judge on the CBS daytime drama The Guiding Light. One of his most prominent television roles came in the 1983 NBC miniseries V, in which he portrayed Arthur Dupres, the stepfather of resistance leader Mike Donovan. He reprised that role in the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle. He also played President Harry S. Truman in Dark Skies and made guest appearances on Love, Sidney, L.A. Law, The Greatest American Hero, Night Court, Six Feet Under, Will & Grace, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office.

Rowe's film credits include Gordon's War (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Missing (1982), The Osterman Weekend (1983), Baby Boom (1987), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Dante's Peak (1997), and Dry Cycle (2003).

Rowe was married and had two sons and another by marriage. He died on September 5, 2017, in a car accident in Newhall, California, at the age of 93, and donated his body for scientific study.