Harry Landers (born Harry Sorokin; September 3, 1921 – September 10, 2017) was an American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

. He was born in New York City.

Early life and career

Landers's education came at Public School No. 202 and Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. During World War II, Landers served in the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

. In the mid-1940s, he began his career as a worker at the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

studio in California. An encounter with actress

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

led to a membership of

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

and an acting career. He started out as an extra and was largely uncredited. He studied at the

Actors' Laboratory Theatre The Actors' Laboratory Theatre was a politically active theatre company and acting school founded in January 1941 by Roman Bohnen, Jules Dassin, Dick Flake, Lloyd Bridges, Danny Mann, Jeff Corey, Mary Virginia Farmer and J. Edward Bromberg. During ...

, known for its

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political affiliation. On Broadway, Landers appeared in '' A Flag is Born'' (1948) and ''Billy Budd''. He gained additional theatrical experience in

summer stock theatre In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...

. Landers is known for being the spokesman for Taster's Choice coffee in television commercials that aired in the 1970s. He played "Go Go" in the 1953 classic, ''

The Wild One ''The Wild One'' is a 1953 American crime film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. The picture is most noted for the character of Johnny Strabler, portrayed by Marlon Brando, whose persona became a cultural icon of the 1 ...

''. He had a regular role as Dr. Ted Hoffman on the television series ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols " ♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...

'' and co-starred in the TV movie ''The Return of Ben Casey'' (1988). He had a small role in the

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

film ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...

'' (1954). He played multiple roles in

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

's epic ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1956). In 1957, Landers played murder victim Donald Briggs in the Perry Mason episode ''The Case of the Drowning Duck''. He also appeared in 1966 on ''

Combat! ''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...

'' in the 5th season episode, "The Losers" and later in a supporting role as the incompent but murderous Dr. Arthur Coleman in the final episode of 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, "

Turnabout Intruder "Turnabout Intruder" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Arthur H. Singer (based on a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Herb Wallerstein ...

", first screened in 1969.

Death

Landers died September 10, 2017, aged 96.

Filmography

Film

References

External links

*
Harry Landers
at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

Interview with Harry Landers
Classic TV History Blog, April 30, 2010 1921 births 2017 deaths Male actors from New York City American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors United States Merchant Mariners of World War II Jewish American male actors 21st-century American Jews {{US-screen-actor-stub