Del Monroe

d. June 5, 2009

Del Monroe, 73, who played Seaman Kowalski on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea died June 5 of leukemia in Burbank, Calif. He was born in Santa Barbara and developed an interest in acting while serving in the Army. After his discharge, he learned his trade at the Pasadena Playhouse. He made his screen debut in 1959 in “The Girl in Lovers Lane,” a low-budget crime pic starring Brett Halsey and Jack Elam.

Monroe started to get TV roles in the early 1960s, on episodes of Wyatt Earp, The Gallant Men and Jack Elam’s short-lived western, The Dakotas. He appeared in 1961 in the minor role of Kowalski, a member of the crew of the atomic submarine Seaview in Irwin Allen’s “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” Monroe was the only actor in the movie to recreate his role in the TV series, launched by Allen on ABC in 1964. Monroe played Kowalski during the show’s four-year run.

He also appeared in an episode of Allen’s series The Time Tunnel, and in The Virginian, Mission: Impossible, The FBI, Adam-12, Mannix, Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Rockford Files, The Amazing Spider-man, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk and others. His final role was in a 2005 episode of Medium.