Perry Lopez

Perry Lopez, born Julio César Lopez on July 22, 1929, in New York City, was an American actor of Puerto Rican descent whose career in film, television, and theatre spanned four decades. He died on February 14, 2008, of lung cancer at The Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills in Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, at the age of 78. His ashes were interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and he was survived by several nieces and nephews.

Lopez began his professional life in the New York theatre world, where his stage work included an appearance on Broadway in 1950 in South Pacific. He subsequently transitioned to film and television, signing a contract with Warner Bros. Studios in 1954. His first credited screen appearance came that same year, playing Bogus Charlie in Drum Beat.

His early film work at Warner Bros. placed him in a range of roles across multiple genres. He appeared as Spanish Joe in Battle Cry in 1955 and as Rodrigues in Mister Roberts that same year, a supporting part that put him opposite established stars Henry Fonda and James Cagney. He took the leading role in The Steel Jungle in 1956 and played Toro in Cry Tough in 1959. His early career also included appearances in Westerns and genre pictures, among them Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954, The Young Guns in 1956, and The Lone Ranger.

Lopez became perhaps most widely recognized for his role as Lieutenant Lou Escobar in Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown, in which he appeared opposite Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. He returned to the character sixteen years later in The Two Jakes in 1990, with Escobar having been promoted to Captain. In 1970 he played Private Petuko in Kelly's Heroes, and in 1963 he appeared as Davey Elk in McLintock. Shortly before reprising his Chinatown role, he starred opposite Charles Bronson as drug gang leader Ed Zacharias in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown in 1987. His final film role was as a priest in Confessions of a Hitman in 1994.

Television also formed a significant part of Lopez's career. He played Esteban Rodriguez in the Star Trek episode "Shore Leave" and appeared in four episodes of Zorro as Joaquín Castenada, a peon fighting for his people's freedom, in the series starring Guy Williams. He portrayed the outlaw Duke Miller in a Bonanza episode, a character who kills a man over his place in line for a haircut. Additional television credits include an appearance in episode 14 of The Time Tunnel, titled "Night of the Long Knives," which originally aired on December 16, 1966, as well as a role in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode "Savage Jungle."