Eugene "Gene" Dynarski (September 13, 1933 – February 27, 2020) was an American actor. Three of the most popular projects that he has been involved with were two

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

films, ''

Duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

'' and ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'', and the

Westwood Studios Westwood Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in 1985 as Brelous Software, but got changed after 2 months into Westwood Associates and was renamed to Westw ...

computer game '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert''.

Acting career

Dynarski acted on stage before he began working in films and on television. In 1971's ''

'', Dynarski had a small role as a truck driver in a cafe that was mistakenly identified by car driver David Mann (Dennis Weaver) as his tormenting truck driver that resulted in a short lived fight at Chuck's Cafe. In ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert'', Dynarski plays a major supporting role as Soviet Premier

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, appearing throughout much of the game's Soviet campaign and, to a lesser extent, the Allied campaign. In the 1974 film ''

Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

'', Dynarski portrays Fred, a worker at the

Mulholland Dam The Mulholland Dam is a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dam located in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California, east of the Hollywood Freeway. Designed with a storage capacity of of water at a maximum depth of , the dam forms the ...

who becomes the first fatality of the disaster. Dynarski also appeared in numerous television shows. He was one of 32 actors or actresses to have guest-starred in both the original ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' television series (episodes "

Mudd's Women "Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 13, ...

" and " The Mark of Gideon") and in one of the series' spin offs ('' Star Trek: The Next Generation''s "

11001001 "11001001" is an episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. It was first broadcast on February 1, 1988, in the United States in broadcast syndication. It was written by Ma ...

"). In ''

Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conce ...

'' TV series, Dynarski played the Dragonman's sidekick, Toto, in the episode titled "Monkee Chow Mein" (original US air date: March 13, 1967). His many other TV credits include episodes of ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' (episodes 47 and 48), ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

'' and ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

''. Dynarski is also known for his two appearances as Izzy Mandelbaum Jr. on ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''. Dynarski appeared in the short '' Apple Jack'' (2003) as Helmut Jitters. Dynarski and David Weitz, a friend, built the Gene Dynarski Theater, which opened June 20, 1979, in Los Angeles. Over years they converted a bare four-walled space into a 99-seat theater.

Death

Dynarski died on February 27, 2020, in

Studio City, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

, at the age of 86.

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1933 births 2020 deaths American male film actors Place of birth missing American male television actors American male stage actors {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub