Character actor Joseph Ruskin died last Saturday, 28 December 2013, at the age of 89. In his career that spanned six decades, he had roles on such genre shows as Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants and Star Trek, as the thrall master Galt in the episode entitled The Gamesters of Triskelion. And that's just in the 1960s.
Other roles in genre TV include Rod Serling's Night Gallery, The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Project U.F.O and a whole slew of new Star Trek shows, including Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise as well as the movie Star Trek: Insurrection.
Ruskin's credits stretch from 1955 to 2006. He was never a regular on any series, though he did return to some series in different roles. He just kept working, one role at a time for a half a century, a total of 151 credits on imdb.com. It's not an easy way to make a living, but I for one am glad he did it, because he had some very memorable roles. On Twilight Zone, he played a genie in an episode called The Man in the Bottle and he was the voice of the alien in the classic To Serve Man.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Joseph Ruskin, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
Awesome episode. "400 quatloos on the newcomers!" And I think he rises above "Oh, THAT guy" status.
ReplyDeleteI love the hardworking ethics of that early generation of TV stars. Probably had to, because TV was considered a lesser art form, and probably didn't pay that well. But the SyFy Twilight Zone marathon reminds how much work had to be done and how many parts filled out to fill network schedules; saw one episode with Beverly Garland!
Thanks for your work in making sure we are reminded of these actors, Prof.
I'm not sure he rises above "Oh, THAT Guy" status. I would say a lot of viewers know the face but not the name because he was never a regular on a show. Ruskin did do some movies. He had a "blink and you'll miss it" role in The Magnificent Seven in the scene where James Coburn's character is introduced.
DeleteThe name I give to the level above "Oh, THAT guy!" Is "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" I think the difference is easy to spot.
As for not paying well, if you have Netflix, it's worth watching the 2012 documentary That Guy.. Who Was in That Thing.
Will do.
DeleteAlso, I can see the useful distinction in the Abe Vigoda status.