James Gregory

James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American character actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television across several decades. He appeared on Broadway as early as 1928 in the musical Rain or Shine, and went on to make his Broadway debut in a production of Key Largo in 1939. From 1941 to 1946, Gregory served in the United States Navy during World War II, and his early acting work following the war included appearances in army training films, one of which was later excerpted in The Atomic Café (1982). He also worked in radio, spending a year on 21st Precinct from 1955 to 1956.

Gregory built a substantial screen career through a series of notable character roles. He played Schaffer in Al Capone (1959) and took the lead in the NBC crime drama The Lawless Years, which ran from 1959 to 1961 and aired 45 episodes. In that series, set in the 1920s, he portrayed NYPD Detective Barney Ruditsky. His role as the McCarthy-like Senator John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) brought him wider recognition, and he followed that with an appearance alongside Cliff Robertson in PT 109 (1963). Gregory appeared in three films in the Matt Helm series, playing spy boss MacDonald opposite Dean Martin. His other film credits include the Elvis Presley vehicle Clambake (1967) and General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).

On television, Gregory appeared in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Dagger of the Mind," portraying Dr. Tristan Adams. In the 1968 pilot movie for Hawaii Five-O, he became the first actor to play State Department official Jonathan Kaye, a recurring character throughout the series. He also portrayed Nick Hannigan on Detective School. His longest-running television role was Deputy Inspector Frank Luger on the sitcom Barney Miller, a part he held as a semiregular from 1975 to 1982. His final acting credit came in a 1986 episode of Mr. Belvedere.

Gregory was married to Ann Miltner for 58 years. He died of natural causes on September 16, 2002, in Sedona, Arizona, at the age of 90.