Competent
and pragmatic, Sheriff George Patterson is the head lawman
in Collinsport and inevitably his path crosses with the
residents of the Collinwood estate and the increasingly
bizarre occurrences that beset them. As the world of the
supernatural intrudes into Collinwood, Sheriff Patterson
finds himself increasingly at a loss to provide rational
explanations and solutions for events around him...
Dana
Elcar was born Ibsen Dana Elcar on October 10,
1927 in Ferndale, Michigan. He grew up on the family farm
aspiring to become a actor by mimicking radio shows like
Fibber McGee and Molly with his siblings in the barn.
While
supporting himself as an ambulance and cab driver, Dana
studied drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.
Some of his early stage stints included Moon in Capricorn,
The Knight of Burning Pestle, Project Immortality and
Saint Joan.
In
1954, Dana's debut on daytime television came as Dr. Clay
in A Time to Live. Besides playing original Sheriff
George Patterson on Dark Shadows, his other roles
in daytime included the role of Clinton Wheeler on The
Edge of Night and D.A. Andrew Murray on The Guiding
Light.
Dana's
many theatrical credits included Galileo, Twelfth Night,
Inherit the Wind, The Cherry Orchard, That Championship
Season, Who Wants to Be the Lone Ranger?, Crystal Fox, Eh?,
The Skin of Our Teeth, Murder Among Us, The
Dumbwaiter, Plays from Bleecker Street: Childhood, Androcles
and the Lion, Under Milkwood Glass, Drums Under the Windows,
Semi-Detached, The Three Sisters, Summer of the Seventeenth
Doll, Our Town, The Power and the Glory, Augustus Does His
Bit, As You Like It, Richard III, Good as Gold, Venice Preserv'd
and The Honeys.
His
break on the big screen came in the 1964 classic Fail-Safe
with Henry Fonda. Dana's other film credits included Blue
Skies Again, Buddy Buddy, There Were Times Dear, Inside
Out, 2010, All of Me, Condorman, The Nude Bomb, A Star is
Born, Foul Play, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, The
Champ, The Bravos, W.C. Fields and Me, Jaws II, The Sting,
A Gunfight, Zigzag, Adam at 6 A.M., Baby Blue Marine,Solider
Blue, The Fool Killer, The Learning Tree, The Maltese Bippy,
Pendulum, Mrs. Pollifax-Spy, Report to Commissioner, Good
Luck, Miss Wyckoff and The Boston Strangler.
Dana
also notched up numerous television films, such as Murder
in Three Parts, Toughlove, I Want to Live, Quarterback Princess,
Teachers Only, Help Wanted: Male, Forbidden Love, The Day
the Bubble Burst, Death Penalty, Wendy Hooper-U.S. Army,
Crisis in Mid-Air, Samurai, Waiting for Godot, Law of the
Land, Senior Year, Heat Wave!, Panic on the 5:22, Hawkins
on Murder, Dying Room Only, Fireball Forward, Sarge, The
Death of Me Yet, San Francisco International Airport, The
D.A.: Murder One, The Whole World Is Watching, Deadlock,
The Sound of Anger, The Borgia Stick, Hallmark Hall of Fame:
Patriots, Of Mice and Men, Our Town, and also the two
miniseries Centennial and The Missiles of October.
He
appeared as a guest in a huge number of popular primetime
small screen series. Amongst them, Hill Street Blues,
ER, The Fall Guy, Flamingo Road, Riptide, Trapper John M.D.,
The Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Cannon, The Rockford Files,
Falcon Crest, Family, The Incredible Hulk, The Partridge
Family, Hawaii 5-0, Bonanza, Get Smart, Matlock, Mission:
Impossible, Naked City, Marcus Welby M.D., Mannix, Kung
Fu, Law and Order, The Waltons and The A-Team.
In addition, he also directed episodes of MacGyver, The
Rockford Files, Salvage 1 and Black Sheep Squadron.
He
will probably be best remembered for his starring role as
Peter Thornton on the television show MacGyver with
Richard Dean Anderson. Towards the end of the 1980s, when
Dana began to lose his sight due to glaucoma, the series
adapted by having his character develop the same disease.
Latterly,
Dana, who used a special computer to communicate and write,
lived in California with his wife Marianne. The Elcars had
two children, Marin and Dane. Adults Nora and Chandra were
born of two of Dana's previous marriages. Dana stepped down
as Artistic Director of the Santa Paula Theater Center in
the early 1990s. Marianne retired her position as General
Manager shortly thereafter. He eventually retired from acting
in 2002.
Dana Elcar died from pneumonia complications
on June 6 2005 at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura,
California. He was 77 years old.
Biography
written by Vera Marano
With
thanks to Larry Wright
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