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person_profile-Lyle Bettger

Lyle Bettger Died at age: 88

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Lyle Bettger

Date of Birth:

Feb 13, 1915

Country of birth:

Pennsylvania

Died:

Sep 24, 2003

Biography of

Lyle Bettger

    ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Lyle S. Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was a character actor known most for his Hollywood roles from the 1950s, typically portraying villains. He is perhaps most recognisable as the wrathfully jealous elephant handler Klaus from the Oscar winning film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).

    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lyle was the son of Frank Bettger, who was an infielder for the St Louis Cardinals. An enthusiastic fan of cinema, Lyle left school in his late teens with the ambition of becoming an actor.

    Bettger graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. His theatrical debut was in Brother Rat at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City in 1936. After a period languishing in small-time theatre he landed the lead role in the Broadway production of The Flying Gerardos in 1940. When Paramount sent a talent scout to see the show, Bettger was signed on a three-year contract.

    Bettger's movie career began when he was cast as the lead in the film noir No Man of Her Own (1950). He soon became a regular on the set of Westerns such as Denver and Rio Grande (1952), The Great Sioux Uprising (1953), Drums Across the River (1954), The Lone Ranger (1956) and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). Lyle developed a reputation for playing the bad guy and excelled in villainous roles such as the menacing Joe Beacom in Union Station (1950) and the cold-blooded Nazi Chief Officer Kirchner in The Sea Chase (1955).

    Bettger also made many appearances in dramatic roles on television, starring in the 1957 series The Court of Last Resort as well as guesting on Hawaii Five-O, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Bonanza and The Time Tunnel.

    Lyle was married to Mary Rolfe (1940–1996) until her death. They had three children: Lyle Jr., Frank and Paula. He was also survived by a sister, Lee Morgan.

    Lyle Bettger died on September 24, 2003 in San Luis Obispo County, California.

    Description above from the Wikipedia article Lyle Bettger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Photos of

Lyle Bettger

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Lyle Bettger

Found 29 Movies in total

La Classe américaine

Famous Man (archive footage) (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1993

M Station: Hawaii

Adm. Lincoln ( Actor )

... 1980

The Hawaiians

Janders ( Actor )

... 1970

Impasse

Hansen ( Actor )

... 1969

The Fastest Guitar Alive

Charlie ( Actor )

... 1967

Return of the Gunfighter

Clay Sutton ( Actor )

... 1967

Nevada Smith

Jack Rudabough ( Actor )

... 1966

Johnny Reno

Jess Yates ( Actor )

... 1966

Town Tamer

Lee Ring ( Actor )

... 1965

Guns of the Timberland

Clay Bell ( Actor )

... 1960

... 1959

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Ike Clanton ( Actor )

... 1957

Showdown at Abilene

Dave Mosely ( Actor )

... 1956

The Lone Ranger

Reece Kilgore ( Actor )

... 1956

The Sea Chase

Chief Officer Kirchner ( Actor )

... 1955

Destry

Phil Decker ( Actor )

... 1954

Drums Across the River

Frank Walker ( Actor )

... 1954

Carnival Story

Frank Colloni ( Actor )

... 1954

Forbidden

Justin Keit ( Actor )

... 1953

The Great Sioux Uprising

Stephen Cook ( Actor )

... 1953

All I Desire

Dutch Heinemann ( Actor )

... 1953

The Vanquished

Roger Hale ( Actor )

... 1953

Hurricane Smith

Clobb ( Actor )

... 1952

Denver and Rio Grande

Johnny Buff ( Actor )

... 1952

... 1952

Dear Brat

Baxter ( Actor )

... 1951

The First Legion

Dr. Peter Morrell ( Actor )

... 1951

Union Station

Joe Beacom ( Actor )

... 1950

No Man of Her Own

Stephen Morley ( Actor )

... 1950