Dana Elcar
Biography
Dana Elcar was an American character actor who worked in television and film. He was born in Ferndale, Michigan, in 1927 and died in 2005. Elcar studied at the University of Michigan, moved to New York in the 1950s, and trained with acting coach Sanford Meisner. In 1962 he originated the hitman Ben in the American premiere of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter and then played Andrew Murray on The Guiding Light. He went on to play Sheriff George Patterson on Dark Shadows and Colonel Lard on Baa Baa Black Sheep, and he directed four episodes of that series. Elcar appeared in about 40 films, among them The Sting (1973) and The Nude Bomb (1980). He played Peter Thornton, MacGyver's supervisor, on MacGyver. He also guest starred on many television shows, formed the Santa Paula Theater Center in 1986, and retired in 2002 after a role on ER.
77years old at death
- Born Ferndale
- Died Ventura
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Also credited as Ibson Dana Elcar and Ibsen Dana Elcar
Movie Career
- Films
- 19
- Career span
- 22 years1964 to 1986
First and latest
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Early training
Elcar studied under Sanford Meisner, a legendary acting coach. In 1986 he and fellow character actor William Lucking used that training to form the Santa Paula Theater Center.
First role
Elcar took on the part of Ben, a hitman, in 1962. That year the U.S. premiere of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter was staged at the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village, New York City.
Dana Elcar movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Charles Jarrott directed two of these films. Elisha Cook Jr. appears in three of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Elisha Cook Jr.'s page
Donald Pleasence's page
Kirk Douglas's page
Bob Balaban's page
Walter Matthau's page
R.G. Armstrong's page
Charles JarrottDirector, 2 films, 1980 to 1981
All films by Charles Jarrott
Also two films together6 more actors
- Candice Bergen2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) and Soldier Blue (1970)
- Michael EnsignAll of Me (1984) and Buddy Buddy (1981)
- Walter BrookeThe Nude Bomb (1980) and St. Ives (1976)
- James HamptonCondorman (1981) and Soldier Blue (1970)
- Ricky SchroderThe Last Flight of Noah's Ark (1980) and The Champ (1979)
- Madolyn Smith Osborne2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) and All of Me (1984)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Dana Elcar's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$285 million
6 of the 19 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 19 films: 6 worldwide figure; 3 us gross only; 1 never in cinemas; 9 figure not found.
- 6Worldwide figure
- 3US gross only
- 1Never in cinemas
- 9Figure not found
Highest grossing
The six biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$160M56.0% of the total
- 2$40M14.2% of the total
- 3$36M12.8% of the total
- 4$30M10.7% of the total
- 5$11M3.9% of the total
- 6$7.3M2.5% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.