Robert Drivas, 50, Known for His Role in ‘The Illustrated Man,’ Dies of Cancer

Robert Drivas, an actor and director who moved between stage, screen and television during his relatively brief career, died Sunday at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center here at age 50.

Drivas probably was best known to film audiences for his featured performance in “The Illustrated Man,” the 1969 picture that starred Rod Steiger in a compendium of Ray Bradbury stories.

His other pictures included “Cool Hand Luke,” “Where It’s At” and “True Grit.”

He made his Broadway debut in 1958 as Ramses in “The Firstborn,” while his other stage roles included Jocko in “One More River,” Stefan in “The Wall,” Alfred Drake’s son in “Lorenzo” and an English beatnik in “The Irregular Verb to Love.”

The first play he directed was 1974’s “Bad Habits,” for which he won an Obie.

He also directed “The Ritz,” “Legend,” “It Has to Be You,” and a revival of Neil Simon’s “Little Me.”

He appeared in many television productions, including “The Defenders,” “The Nurses,” “The Fugitive,” “Twelve O’Clock High,” and “For the People,” and starred in the short-lived, prime-time soap opera “Our Private World” on CBS in 1965.

Drivas is survived by his mother, a sister and two brothers.