PASSINGS: Peter Haskell
Peter Haskell
Peter Haskell, 75, a prolific stage, screen and TV actor who starred in the behind-the-scenes Hollywood TV series “Bracken’s World,” died Monday in his sleep at his home in Northridge, said his daughter, Audra.
Born Oct. 15, 1934, in Boston, Haskell began acting while studying for a degree in literature at Harvard. He appeared on stage in Boston, New York and Canada in the 1960s and won his first TV role in “Death Valley Days” in 1964.
Dozens of TV appearances followed on series including “Ben Casey,” “Combat!,” “Lassie,” “The Big Valley,” “Mannix,” “Medical Center,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Vega$,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Matlock” and the 2009 series finale of “ER.”
Haskell played writer-producer Kevin Grant on “Bracken’s World,” a melodramatic backstage look at the film industry that ran on NBC in 1969 and ’70. And he had a stint on daytime TV in the early 1980s on the ABC soap “Ryan’s Hope.”
He also appeared in two “Child’s Play” horror films in the ‘90s and was active in theater in Los Angeles.
His first marriage to Ann Compton ended in divorce. In 1974 he married Dianne “Crickett” Tolmich. They had two children, Audra and Jason.
-- times staff and wire reports
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