Robert Lansing

Robert Lansing was an American actor of stage, film and television whose career lasted five decades. Born in San Diego, he attended high school in Los Angeles and took his professional surname from the Michigan stock company in Lansing that hired him once he had joined Actors' Equity. After Army service in Japan, where he worked at Armed Forces Radio, he reached Broadway in Stalag 17 in 1951. He was best known for playing Brigadier General Frank Savage in 12 O'Clock High. He also played Detective Steve Carella in 87th Precinct and the secret agent Gary Seven in an episode of Star Trek. Later television work took him to The Man Who Never Was and The Equalizer. On film he starred in the science fiction picture 4D Man and the nature drama Namu, the Killer Whale. He acted often in New York theater, and a New York Times critic praised his 1973 lead in The Father. Lansing died in 1994.