PASSINGS: Michael Ansara, Dick Kazmaier

Michael Ansara

Actor played Cochise on TV’s ‘Broken Arrow’

Michael Ansara, 91, a Syrian-born actor often cast as a Native American in TV westerns and who starred as Cochise in “Broken Arrow” and Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in “Law of the Plainsman” before playing the memorable Klingon Kang in “Star Trek,” died Wednesday at his home in Calabasas, according to family spokesman Michael Druxman. No cause was given.

Ansara was born April 15, 1922, in Syria and moved with his family to New England as a young child, Druxman said. The family lived in Massachusetts and New Hampshire before moving to Los Angeles. Ansara studied at L.A. City College and the Pasadena Playhouse.

FOR THE RECORD:
Michael Ansara: In a news obituary of actor Michael Ansara in the Aug. 3 LATExtra section, the name of his first wife was misspelled as Jean Bryon. He was married to actress Jean Byron, who appeared on “The Patty Duke Show” and other programs. —

He had small parts in films and TV series in the early 1950s before landing the role of the Apache chief in “Broken Arrow” in 1956. The series ran on ABC for two years, and in 1959 he starred as an Apache who became a lawman in “Law of the Plainsman,” a spinoff of the popular ABC western “The Rifleman.”

After “Law of the Plainsman” ended in 1960, Ansara made frequent appearances on television into the ‘90s. His many credits include “Rawhide,” “Daniel Boone,” “Gunsmoke,” “McMillan and Wife,” “Police Story,” “Rambo” and the miniseries “Centennial.” He also was the voice of Mr. Freeze in various animated “Batman” series.

Ansara first played Kang on the original “Star Trek” series in 1968 and was brought back for “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (as Kang and, later, as the Tavnian Jeyal) and “Star Trek: Voyager.”

He was married to actress Jean Byron of “The Patty Duke Show” before marrying Barbara Eden, the star of “I Dream of Jeannie.” Ansara and Eden had one son, Matthew. The couple divorced in 1973, and their son died of an accidental drug overdose in 2001. Ansara is survived by his third wife, actress Beverly Kushida, and a sister.

[For The Record, 6:59 a.m. Aug. 5: In an Aug. 3 obituary of actor Michael Ansara, the name of his first wife was misspelled as Jean Bryon. He was married to actress Jean Byron, who appeared on “The Patty Duke Show” and other programs.]

Dick Kazmaier

Last Ivy League player to win Heisman Trophy

Dick Kazmaier, 82, the last Ivy League player to win college football’s Heisman Trophy, died Thursday at a Boston hospital, Princeton University said. The cause was not disclosed.

Kazmaier played halfback for Princeton and as a senior in 1951 won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide, receiving 506 first-place votes and 1,777 points, a record at the time. He also won the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best college football player and was the Associated Press male athlete of the year.

In his final two college seasons, the Tigers went 18-0. When he stopped playing, Kazmaier was Princeton’s career leader in yards rushing (1,950) and ranked second in yards passing (2,404). He was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Born Nov. 23, 1930, in Maumee, Ohio, Kazmaier passed on a chance to play in the NFL after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1952. Instead he chose to attend business school at Harvard and also served three years in the Navy.

He went on to found Kazmaier Associates Inc., an investment and consulting firm based in Concord, Mass., that specializes in sports marketing and products and is based in Concord, Mass.

He served as president of the National Football Foundation, which runs the College Hall of Fame, from 1974 to 1984 and was chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Three of Kazmaier’s six daughters with his wife, Patricia, graduated from Princeton, including Patty Kazmaier, who played hockey for the Tigers and helped them to three consecutive Ivy League championships in the early 1980s.

After Patty died of a rare blood disease in 1990, Dick Kazmaier and the USA Hockey Foundation created the Patty Kazmaier Award, which has been given to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey since 1998.

— Los Angeles Times staff and wire reports

news.obits@latimes.com