Lee Bergere (April 10 1918, Brooklyn, New York – January 31 2007,
Fremont, New HampshireFremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,510 at the 2000 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail, the longest rail trail in the state, and NH Route 107.-History:...
) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor, perhaps best known for his role as Joseph Aynders in the 1980s
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
series
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
.
Bergere was known for his haughty and superior characters, a typecasting that culminated in his selection as the
majordomoA majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, the term refers to the highest person of a household staff, one who acts on behalf of the owner of a typically large residence...
Joseph on the hugely popular prime-time
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
. With that role, and his on-screen billing in the show's opening-credits (starting in Season 2), Bergere achieved a level of fame rarely matched by other character actors who, like him, had worked in relative anonymity as guest stars on television series in the 1960s and 70s including Hogan's Heroes.
Lee Bergere (April 10 1918, Brooklyn, New York – January 31 2007,
Fremont, New HampshireFremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,510 at the 2000 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail, the longest rail trail in the state, and NH Route 107.-History:...
) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor, perhaps best known for his role as Joseph Aynders in the 1980s
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
series
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
.
Bergere was known for his haughty and superior characters, a typecasting that culminated in his selection as the
majordomoA majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, the term refers to the highest person of a household staff, one who acts on behalf of the owner of a typically large residence...
Joseph on the hugely popular prime-time
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
. With that role, and his on-screen billing in the show's opening-credits (starting in Season 2), Bergere achieved a level of fame rarely matched by other character actors who, like him, had worked in relative anonymity as guest stars on television series in the 1960s and 70s including Hogan's Heroes. He appeared regularly only during the first three seasons of
Dynasty (returning briefly in the fourth to be "killed off"), but his role grew beyond opening doors and announcing guests to encompass storylines that included the introduction of a daughter and his own character's suicide after setting a cliff-hanging fire.
Another of Bergere's legacies is his role as one of TV's best-remembered
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
, on the
Star TrekStar Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from the spinoffs that...
episode "The Savage Curtain," which is well-known (and notorious) for its juxtaposition of real and imagined historical figures. Other parts also challenged his typecasting, and he showed great flair for comedy on series like
The MunstersThe Munsters is a 1960s American television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. The show was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era, such as Leave It to Beaver. It ran concurrently with the The Addams Family. Although the...
,
WKRP in CincinnatiWKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising as a client of a classic album-oriented rock...
(in a pig costume), and the short-lived series
Hot L BaltimoreThe Hot l Baltimore is a play by Lanford Wilson. Set in the lobby of the Hotel Baltimore, it focuses on the residents of the decaying property who are faced with eviction when the structure is condemned...
, on which he played one of TV's first gay regular characters.
The actor began his career in 1936 as
Danny KayeDanny Kaye was an American award-winning actor, singer and comedian.-Early years:Born David Daniel Kaminsky to Jewish Ukrainian immigrants in Brooklyn, Kaye became one of the world's best-known comedians...
's understudy in the
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production of
Lady in the DarkLady in the Dark is a musical written by Kurt Weill , Ira Gershwin , and Moss Hart . It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis, said to be based on Hart's own experiences with...
. He debuted on television on an episode of the live series
Studio One with
James DeanJames Byron Dean was an American film actor.Dean's status as a cultural icon is best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled high school rebel Jim Stark...
. A veteran of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Bergere supervised entertainment services for soldiers stationed in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
.
Bergere appeared as the Duke, with
Richard KileyRichard Paul Kiley was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his voice work, as narrator of various documentary series, and for having played Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha...
reprising his role as
Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha , is a novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes...
, when the
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
hit
Man of La ManchaMan of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
premiered in Los Angeles in 1967. Through the years, Bergere also played Quixote as well as other characters in the show in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
Bergere died, aged 88, from undisclosed causes in
Fremont, New HampshireFremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,510 at the 2000 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail, the longest rail trail in the state, and NH Route 107.-History:...
, where he had taken up residence some years prior, having left the acting profession in 1989. His last role was a recurring part on three episodes of
Falcon CrestFalcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990...
, another popular 1980s night-time soap.
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