Janos Prohaska

Janos Prohaska (October 10, 1919, Budapest, Hungary – March 13, 1974, Inyo County, California, United States) was a U.S.-based Hungarian actor and stunt performer on American television from the 1960s. He usually played the roles of animals or monsters.

He is best remembered for his recurring comic role as The Cookie Bear in The Andy Williams Show from 1969 to 1971. Prohaska also appeared in multiple roles on such TV series as The Outer Limits, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, and a few episodes of Gilligan's Island, where he plays a gorilla. His only credited role on that series appears in the episode "Our Vines Have Tender Apes." In 1967 he appeared as a white gorilla in the "Fatal Cargo" episode of the ABC-TV sci-fi series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. On NBC-TV's Star Trek his turns as the Horta in Star Trek's "The Devil in the Dark", and the Mugato (credited, curiously enough, as the Gumato) in "A Private Little War" are the best known of these. He made an appearance on an episode of What's My Line? in 1969, where he wore one of his ape costumes. [1]

Personal Life & Death

He was married to Irene M . Knoke (29 June 1969 - 13 March 1974) (his death). He and his son Robert were killed along with 34 others on March 13, 1974 at 8:28 p.m. in the crash of a chartered Sierra Airlines Convair CV-440 aircraft near Bishop, California while filming the ABC/Wolper Productions television series Primal Man.[2] The plane flew into a mountain ridge in darkness, but the exact cause of the crash was never determined.[3] His ashes were interred in the Mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica.

During the late 1980s revamp of the DC Comics character Blackhawk by Howard Chaykin, the leader of the eponymous group of World War II fighters was revealed to be named Janos Prohaska, in tribute to the actor.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1962Billy Rose's JumboCircus Performer #14
1963The Outer LimitsAllen as ThetanEpisode: "The Architects of Fear" (Uncredited)
1963The Outer LimitsDarwin the ChimpanzeeEpisode: "The Sixth Finger" (Uncredited)
1964Advance to the RearFlagpole SitterUncredited
1964Bikini BeachClyde the Chimp
1965The Outer LimitsThe MikieEpisode: "The Probe"
1965Perry MasonThe GorillaEpisode: "Case of the Grinning Gorilla"
1967Man of Steel
1967Star TrekHortaEpisode: "The Devil in the Dark" (Uncredited)
1968Star TrekThe MugatoEpisode: "A Private Little War"
1969Star TrekYarnekEpisode: "The Savage Curtain" (Uncredited)
1969Land of the GiantsGorillaEpisode: "Comeback"
1970Land of the GiantsBobo the GorillaEpisode: "The Marionettes"
1970Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love YouGorilla
1971Escape from the Planet of the ApesHeloiseUncredited
1974Zandy's BrideBearUncredited
1986Star TrekAnthropoid Ape / Humanoid BirdEpisode: "The Cage" (Uncredited); First pilot (1965) not released until 1986

References
  1. "This is the man behind the mask of all those '60s and '70s TV creatures". H&I.
  2. "The 'Primal Man' Crash". Check-Six.com. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-440 N4819C Bishop Airport, CA (BIH)". aviation-safety.net.
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