Actor Ron Harper, known for series such as Planet of the Apes (1974) and Garrison’s Commandos (1967), has died of natural causes at his home in West Hills, Los Angeles, according to his daughter Nicole Longeuay for the Hollywood Reporter. . His most famous role was in the series Planet of the Apes, where he played an astronaut driving the ship that crashes on a planet dominated by apes.
He was born in Pennsylvania, 1933. He trained and studied with distinction at Princeton University, winning a scholarship to continue at Harvard. The opportunity was rejected in the service of a dream: to be an actor. He learned with Lee Strasberg, between 1959 and 1960, and by understudying Paul Newman in Sweet Bird of Youth, the Tennessee Williams play that Elia Kazan brought to Broadway, he took his first steps on stage.
Starting with supporting and brief roles, he achieved great popularity and fame on the air with Planet of the Apes (1974). The series served as a television sequel to the 1968 film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlon Heston. He participated in series such as The Garrison Commandos (1967) or Land of the Lost (1974).
Another of his most remembered characters is Peter Whitmore in the series Generations (1990), Feeling of Living (1990), Walker Texas Ranger (1993), Me and the World (1993) or The West Wing of the White House (1999). He had his opportunities on the big screen where we saw him in Pearl Harbor (2001) alongside Ben Affleck and Alec Baldwin. He continued in television films such as Uncorked (2009) and Hannah’s Kidnapping (2015).
