Jan Merlin (born Jan Wasylewski, April 3, 1925 – September 20, 2019) 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 ...

television writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Early years

Born Jan Wasylewski and reared in New York City, Merlin was of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

ancestry. He attended the Grace Church School for Boys before dropping out to join the Navy. He later graduated from the

Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a full-time professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of th ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and became a torpedoman.

Career

After Merlin's discharge, he worked in

summer stock 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 ...

beginning in 1946, and then enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater, making his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in 1949 in '' Mister Roberts'' starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

. His professional acting career, which spanned more than five decades, included performances in stage plays on and off Broadway, radio dramas, live and filmed episodes of

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, and more than 30 feature motion pictures. His most recent performances were in live radio dramas broadcast in June 2010. In his film and television work, Merlin was frequently cast as the

heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...

, and consequently his character very often died onscreen. An early role for him was in the 1956 western playing Billy a small town boy getting mixed up with a gunfighter that dropped in the town in ''

A Day of Fury ''A Day of Fury'' is a 1956 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Harmon Jones and starring Dale Robertson, Mara Corday and Jock Mahoney. Plot A gunslinger named Jagade happens upon a stranger in trouble on the trail and saves his ...

''. In 1960, Merlin played Travers in '' Hell Bent for Leather'', and his other film credits include roles in ''

Guns of Diablo ''Guns of Diablo'' is a Metrocolor 1965 Western film directed by Boris Sagal and produced by Boris Ingster, starring Charles Bronson, Susan Oliver and Kurt Russell. It follows a wagon train master, who runs into difficulties when he meets ...

'' (1965), '' The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' (1967), ''

Take the Money and Run ''Take the Money and Run'' is a 1969 American mockumentary comedy film directed by Woody Allen. Allen co-wrote the screenplay with Mickey Rose and stars alongside Janet Margolin. The film chronicles the life of Virgil Starkwell, an inept bank rob ...

'' (1969), ''

The Twilight People ''The Twilight People'' is a 1972 Filipino-American horror film directed by Eddie Romero. It was produced by Romero and John Ashley, and written by Romero and Jerome Small. It stars Ashley and features, in an early film appearance, Pam Grier i ...

'' (1972), ''

I Escaped from Devil's Island ''I Escaped from Devil's Island'' is a 1973 exploitation film about an escape attempt from Devil's Island. Roger Corman and Gene Corman produced this grim adventure saga which was made to cash in on the release of '' Papillon''. Plot summary Pr ...

'' (1973), ''

The Slams ''The Slams'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Jim Brown. Plot Curtis Hook (Jim Brown) is caught by the police after a heist. In jail, Curtis has to deal with people who want to know where he stashed the loo ...

'' (1973), '' The Hindenburg'' (1975) and ''Time Trackers'' (1989). Merlin had co-starring roles in two

: from 1950 to 1953 as Cadet Roger Manning in ''

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Astro ...

'', and in 1959 as Lieutenant Colin Kirby in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

series '' The Rough Riders''. In 1958, he played Kenneth on the NBC drama '' Kitty Foyle''. In 1960, he was cast as Mick Norton in the episode "Hostage Island" of the ABC adventure series '' The Islanders'', set in the South Pacific. Also in 1960 he again died on the screen in S3E10 of Gene Berry's TV Western series ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

'', playing a wild gun slinging cowboy, the troubled son of a deceased war hero whose mother left him when he was a child, in the episode "Last Stop To Austin". He also appeared as Hendry Grant in the 1961 episode "First Blood" of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

western series '' The Tall Man''. He made two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'': in 1958, as Tony Davis in "The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde", and in 1961 as Ralph Quentin in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist." Merlin appeared in a 1954 episode of Dragnet "The Big Rod", cast as Gregory Moore, a felony hit and run suspect. Merlin played a villain in three episodes of ''

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, M ...

'': "No Way Out", "The X Factor" and "Death From The Past". In 1957, he appeared in Season 1 Episode 21 of ''

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962. Format Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star F ...

'' opposite

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

, also a former US Navy man. In 1962, he was cast as Bill Enders in the episode "The Ride" of the NBC western series ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

''. In 1966, he co-starred in the ''

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 ...

'' Season 4 episode "One at a Time" as a German sniper, Sgt. Erich and again in 1966 in the season 5 episode "Headcount" as Lt. Geiben. Merlin received a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

in 1975 for Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series as part of the

NBC Daytime NBC Daytime was the daytime programming block of NBC. It historically featured many soap operas, game shows, and talk shows. Its main competitors were CBS Daytime and ABC Daytime. Game shows were discontinued from NBC Daytime's lineup in 1994 a ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Another World''. He was nominated again in 1976. His first novel was published in 1982. He currently has a number of novels in print, including ''Gunbearer, Part I'', ''Gunbearer, Part II'', ''Ainoko,'' ''Gypsies Don't Lie,'' ''Crackpots'', and ''Shooting Montezuma.'' He has also self-published several works of fiction and non-fiction with co-author William Russo, including ''The Paid Companion of J. Wilkes Booth'', ''Troubles in a Golden Eye'', ''MGM Makes Boys' Town'', ''Hanging with Billy Budd'', and ''Frankie Thomas: the Eternal Cadet''. He also appeared in ''Little House on the Prairie'' as Olga Nordstrom's Father, Jon Nordstrom. Season 1 episode 8 1974.

Personal life & death

Merlin married his first wife Patricia Datz in 1951. They had a son, Peter William Merlin (born 1964). Patricia died in 1986. Two years after his wife's death, Merlin married his second wife Barbara Doyle, and remained married until his death on September 20, 2019. He was 94.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Brief biography of Jan Merlin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin, Jan 1925 births 2019 deaths American male film actors American male television actors United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Polish descent American soap opera writers Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from New York City American male television writers Military personnel from New York City Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from New York (state) Stuyvesant High School alumni United States Navy sailors