Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant handler Klaus from the

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-winning film '' The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952).

Early years

Bettger was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the son of Frank Bettger, an infielder for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, and Mertie Stathem Bettger. He graduated from the

Haverford School , motto_translation = , address = 450 Lancaster Avenue , location = , region = , city = Haverford Township, Haverford , county = , state ...

in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and from the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

in New York City.

Stage

Bettger's theatrical debut was in ''

Brother Rat ''Brother Rat'' is a 1938 American comedy drama film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley, and starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert (in his film debut), Jane Wyman, and ...

'' at the '' Biltmore Theatre'' in New York City in 1936. 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 ...

credits include ''Dance Night'' (1938), ''Summer Night'' (1939), ''The Flying Gerardos'' (1940–1941), ''The Moon Is Down'' (1942), ''All for All'' (1943), ''Oh, Brother!'' (1945), ''John Loves Mary'' (1947–1948), and ''Love Life'' (1948–1949). When

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

sent a talent scout to see him, Bettger was signed to a three-year contract.

Film

Bettger's movie career began when he was cast in ''The Lie'' in 1949. Movie columnist Frank Neill reported, "On the basis of his performance in the movie, he has been signed to a juicy contract." Later Bettger was cast as the villain in the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

'' No Man of Her Own'' (1950). He soon became a regular on the set of Westerns such as ''

Denver and Rio Grande The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

'' (1952), ''

The Great Sioux Uprising ''The Great Sioux Uprising'' is a 1953 American Western film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Jeff Chandler, Faith Domergue and Lyle Bettger. Plot During the Civil War, in Wyoming, horse dealers Joan Britton (Faith Domergue) and Stephen Cook ...

'' (1953), '' Forbidden'' (1953), ''

Drums Across the River ''Drums Across the River '' is a 1954 American Technicolor Western film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Audie Murphy, Walter Brennan and Lyle Bettger. Plot Gary Brannon, is a peaceful homesteader living a quiet existence with his father S ...

'' (1954), '' Destry'' (1955), ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'', (1956) and ''

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second shootout between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in ...

'' (1957). Lyle developed a reputation for playing the bad guy and excelled in villainous roles such as the menacing Joe Beacom in ''

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

'' (1950) and the cold-blooded

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Kirchner in ''

The Sea Chase ''The Sea Chase'' is a 1955 World War II drama film starring John Wayne and Lana Turner, and featuring David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, and Tab Hunter. It was directed by John Farrow from a screenplay by James Warner Bellah and John Twist based on th ...

'' (1955). One of his later roles was in the 1969 film ''

Impasse A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a st ...

'' as a bigoted World War II veteran.

Radio

Programs on which Bettger appeared in

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

included ''

Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

''.

Television

Bettger made many appearances in dramatic roles on television, starring in the 1957 series ''

The Court of Last Resort ''The Court of Last Resort '' is an American television dramatized court show which aired October 4, 1957 – April 11, 1958, on NBC. It was co-produced by Erle Stanley Gardner's Paisano Productions, which also brought forth the long-running hit ...

'' as well as guest starring on ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', '' Rawhide'', '' The Tall Man'', ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...

'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

'', ''

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 ...

'',,

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 ...

, ''

Blue Light Blue Light or Blue light may refer to: Science and technology * Portion of the visible spectrum related to the blue color ** Blue laser ** Blue LED * Cherenkov radiation, the physical phenomenon responsible for the characteristic blue glow in nucl ...

'', ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...

'', ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', '' Laramie'' and ''

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season, when it expanded to ...

''.

Personal life

Bettger was married to Mary Gertrude Rolfe from 1941 to her death in 1996. They had three children: Lyle, Jr., Frank, and Paula. She was an actress who played Henry Aldrich's sister in ''

The Aldrich Family ''The Aldrich Family'', a popular radio teenage situation comedy (July 2, 1939 – April 19, 1953), was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-''reeeee ...

'' on radio. Bettger and his family moved to Hawaii in the late 1960s.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettger, Lyle 1915 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Philadelphia American male film actors American male television actors Haverford School alumni Western (genre) television actors 20th-century American male actors Male Western (genre) film actors