Michael Ansara

Michael George Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was a Syrian-American actor born in a small village in Syria, then under French mandate. His family emigrated to the United States when he was two years old, settling first in Lowell, Massachusetts, before relocating to California when Ansara was ten. He initially aspired to a career in medicine, but enrollment in acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse, taken originally to address his shyness, redirected him toward performance. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Los Angeles City College and served as a medic in the United States Army during World War II.

Ansara's screen debut came in 1944 with a bit part as Hamid in the RKO Radio Pictures film Action in Arabia. His Syrian heritage led to frequent casting in Arab roles during his early career, including parts in The Desert Hawk (1950) and Soldiers Three (1951). A turning point came when a Warner Brothers talent scout attended a Pasadena Playhouse production of Monserrat and signed Ansara for the role of Tuscos in Only the Valiant (1951), after which he was regularly typecast as Native American characters. Ansara appeared in a number of Western films throughout the early 1950s, among them Brave Warrior (1952), The Lawless Breed (1953), Three Young Texans (1954), The Lone Ranger (1956), and Pillars of the Sky (1956).

His work in biblical epics brought him wider recognition. He appeared as Judas Iscariot in The Robe (1953), a role he credited with establishing him as a serious actor, and went on to appear as a taskmaster in The Ten Commandments (1956) and as Herod's commander in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1953 he also portrayed Pindarus in Joseph Mankiewicz's film adaptation of Julius Caesar, alongside Marlon Brando, James Mason, and John Gielgud, and appeared in Serpent of the Nile that same year alongside his first wife, actress Jean Byron. Additional biblical film credits include Queen Esther: A Story from the Bible (1947) and Slaves of Babylon (1953).

The television series Broken Arrow, which premiered in 1956, proved to be among the most consequential engagements of Ansara's career. After Mexican actor Ricardo Montalbán declined to commit to the series following the pilot, Ansara was cast as Cochise following a screen test with 20th Century-Fox. He held the role through 1958 and publicly stated that one of his reasons for embracing it was the opportunity to portray a Native American character with dignity during a period when Hollywood frequently depicted such figures as adversaries. Though the role brought him top billing and broad public exposure, Ansara acknowledged that it deepened his typecasting in Native American parts. He followed Broken Arrow with the ABC series Law of the Plainsman (1959–1960), in which he played Apache Sam Buckhart, a U.S. Marshal — a role the series described as the first American network lead featuring a Native American as a full-fledged lawman. The series originated as an episode of The Rifleman and co-starred Gina Gillespie and Robert Harland. Ansara also appeared in numerous other television Westerns, including The Rebel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Virginian, Branded, Daniel Boone, and Gunsmoke, as well as Western films such as The Comancheros, Texas Across the River, and Guns of the Magnificent Seven. In 1978 he starred as Lame Beaver in the miniseries Centennial, based on James A. Michener's novel, and his final Western was Border Shootout (1990), which was also Glenn Ford's last Western.

Ansara's stage work brought him to Broadway, where he appeared in Infidel Caesar alongside silent film actor Ramon Novarro at the Music Box Theater. The production, a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar set in Cuba, closed after two preview performances on April 27 and 28, 1962.

Science fiction and fantasy constituted another significant strand of his career. Ansara appeared in all of Irwin Allen's television series, including two episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, as well as The Outer Limits, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. He first played the Klingon commander Kang in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Day of the Dove," and reprised the character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ("Blood Oath") and Star Trek: Voyager ("Flashback"), making him one of seven actors to portray the same character across three Star Trek series. He played the recurring role of Killer Kane in the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a part originally played by Henry Silva in the pilot film. In 1994 he appeared as the Technomage Elric in the Babylon 5 episode "The Geometry of Shadows."

Ansara was also recognized for his voice work. He voiced Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series and continued in that role across the DC Animated Universe. Additional voice credits include the Ancient One in the 1978 television film Dr. Strange and narration for the PBS series Reading Rainbow. Among his other notable film appearances were Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) and the 1976 historical epic Mohammad, Messenger of God. In the 1970s he appeared in several low-budget films, including Dear Dead Delilah (1972), The Doll Squad (1973), Day of the Animals (1977), and The Manitou (1978).

Ansara was married three times, each time to an actress. His first marriage was to Jean Byron, known for her role on The Patty Duke Show; they divorced in 1956. While filming Broken Arrow, the 20th Century-Fox publicity department arranged a meeting between Ansara and actress Barbara Eden, whom he subsequently married. The two appeared together in the 1961 film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Ansara made multiple guest appearances on Eden's series I Dream of Jeannie, playing the Blue Djinn in 1966, King Kamehameha in a 1968 episode, and Major Biff Jellico in a later episode. He also directed the series' penultimate episode and produced the 1973 pilot for The Barbara Eden Show. Ansara and Eden had one son together before divorcing in 1974. His third marriage, to Beverly Kushida in 1977, lasted until his death on July 31, 2013. Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard.