Kevin Hagen, 77; Doc Baker in ‘Little House on the Prairie’

Kevin Hagen, 77, a character actor best remembered for his role as the kindly Doc Baker in the long-running television series “Little House of the Prairie,” died Saturday at his home in Grants Pass, Ore., of esophageal cancer.

Playing off his “Little House” experience from 1974 to 1983, Hagen developed a one-man cable television show in 1991 that he called “A Playful Dose of Prairie Wisdom.” The show featured Hagen, in the manner of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, dispensing the folksy wit and wisdom of a 19th century prairie doctor on such topics as outhouses.

Hagen, a native of Chicago, began his career in the late 1950s when westerns were popular on television, and quickly developed a reputation for playing bad guys.

He appeared in more than 130 TV shows including episodes of the popular western series “Tales of Wells Fargo,” “Wagon Train,” “Gunsmoke,” “Have Gun -- Will Travel,” “Laramie,” “Sugarfoot,” “The Rifleman,” “Cheyenne,” “Bonanza,” “Rawhide” and “The Big Valley.” As detective shows replaced westerns, he also found work on such series as “Simon & Simon” and “Matlock.” He had a continuing role in the 1958 series “Yancy Derringer.”

Among Hagen’s film credits were “Pork Chop Hill” in 1959, “Shenandoah” in 1965, “The Hunter” in 1980 and “The Ambulance” in 1990. When he appeared in “The Shrike” in a small Los Angeles theater early in his career, a Times reviewer praised him as “an outstanding actor -- an excellent technician and a fine artist.”