THE WORLD
Updated Tuesday, March 26, 2024-08:23
Veteran Hollywood actor
Ron Harper,
best known for playing astronaut Alan Virdon in the 1970s television series Planet of the Apes based on Charlton Heston's classic science fiction film of the same name, has died from causes naturals at his home in West Hills, California.
His daughter Nicole announced it to The Hollywood Reporter. Ron Harper also worked on the television series Land of the Lost in 1976, and appeared in The Tall Man and Laramie.
Most recently, Ron worked alongside Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.
His other notable film appearances include Below Utopia in 1997, The Odd Couple II and Freedom Strike, both released in 1998.
Her film and television career also included soap operas, such as Where the Heart Is and Love of Life. After studying at
Princeton
, she was offered a scholarship to study Law at Harvard, but she turned it down to pursue her dream of acting.
Born in Turtle Creek, Pittsburgh, Ron moved to Hollywood to pursue his dream and began his acting career in the theater in 1955.
In 1966 he explained why he decided not to study law, even though he feared he was throwing away his education by trying to get into show business: "I said to myself, 'Should you waste your good education being an actor?' And that little voice Inside me I said things like: 'Why do you want that Harvard Law scholarship? Be an actor. Being hungry is fun... and like the fool that any actor has to be, I listened to that silly little voice.'
In addition to his daughter, Ron is survived by his son-in-law Daniel, his granddaughters Ronnie and Harper and his ex-wife Shirley, as well as his first wife, 85-year-old actress Sally Stark.