‘Combat’ Star Jason Dies in Moorpark

Actor Rick Jason, who played the hard-boiled Lt. Gil Hanley on the 1960s long-running television drama “Combat!”, was found dead Monday morning inside his house here. He was 74.

Jason died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Ventura County Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said. He was found by his wife about 5 a.m. He left no note and authorities said only that he was despondent over personal matters.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

In a career that spanned more than 35 years and included notable roles on stage, film and television, Jason continued to be most widely known for his portrayal on television’s longest-running World War II drama, which aired from 1962 to 1967.

This month he attended a “Combat!” reunion in Las Vegas to meet fans and reunite with fellow cast members, according to the show’s official Web site.

The show, which also starred the late Vic Morrow, focused on the front line of U.S. infantrymen and illustrated the ravages of the European invasion. The show attracted many famous guest stars, including Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Sal Mineo, Ted Knight, Eddie Albert and James Coburn.

Members of the cast maintained close ties and six of them went on a reunion cruise in 1996, the first time they had been together since Morrow’s 1982 death in a helicopter accident that occurred while Morrow was filming “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”

Before his success pinnacled with “Combat!,” Jason starred with Joi Lansing and Dan Tobin in Orson Welles’ “The Fountain of Youth,” a 1956 television comedy about love and the search for eternal youth.

His other credits included the popular 1960 television series “The Case of Dangerous Robin,” in which he played suave insurance investigator Robin Scott. The show ran for 38 episodes and made Jason one of the first actors to use martial arts on television.

Jason had a recurring role in 1973 on the daytime soap opera “The Young and the Restless” and also made guest appearances on “Murder, She Wrote” in 1984, “Matt Houston” in 1982 and “Wonder Woman” in 1976.

He also penned “Scrapbooks of My Mind: A Hollywood Autobiography.”

Jason was born May 21, 1926, in New York City. He served in the Army Air Corps in World War II from 1943 to 1945. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before pursuing his acting career.

According to the official “Combat!” Web site, Jason was somewhat of a Renaissance man who enjoyed collecting wine, sculpting and painting, flying, playing guitar and breeding tropical fish.

After leaving Hollywood and moving to Moorpark with his wife, Cindy, Jason continued to do voice-overs for commercials.