Jack Betts

Jack Fillmore Betts, also credited as Hunt Powers, was an American actor born on April 11, 1929, in Jersey City, New Jersey, who died on June 19, 2025, at his home in Los Osos, California, at the age of 96. Over the course of a career spanning from 1953 to 2018, he accumulated more than 100 film, stage, and television credits.

Betts grew up in Jersey City before his family relocated to Miami, Florida, when he was ten years old. He auditioned for a talent contest on WIOD, graduated from Miami Senior High School, and went on to study theatre at the University of Miami. He began his professional career in 1953 with a role in the play Richard III.

His Broadway career ran from 1958 to 1978 and included appearances in The Firstborn, Dracula, and Sweet Bird of Youth. He was also the author of Screen Test: Take One, a play about a soap opera that originated on a film set.

Television work formed a substantial part of his career. He portrayed Chris Devlin in the CBS mystery series Checkmate from 1960 to 1962, and played Dr. Ken Martin in the early seasons of General Hospital from 1963 to 1965. He later appeared on One Life to Live in 1982 as Mr. Fisher, an 80-year-old man. Betts made four separate appearances on the CBS drama Perry Mason, playing Bert Nickols in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Impatient Partner," Enos Watterton in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Double Entry Mind," murder victim George Parsons in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Wooden Nickels," and murder victim Bruce Strickland in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Fanciful Frail."

In addition to his stage and television work, Betts appeared as a leading man in several Spaghetti Western films produced in Italy. Later in his career he transitioned to character roles in film, including the part of Henry Balkan in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002.