Lee Bergere in “Dynasty,” top; as the Great Emancipator in “Star Trek,” above; with Jill Ireland and Alan Caillou in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” left.
Lee Bergere
d. January 31, 2007
Lee Bergere, 88, actor familiar to 1960s TV fans for his many guest shots in such popular series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek, died Jan. 31 of natural causes in Fremont, N.H.
He was often cast as dapper villains in the leading adventure shows, including The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, It Takes a Thief, T.H.E. Cat, Amos Burke—Secret Agent, Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes, Jericho, Run for Your Life, The FBI, The Six Million Dollar Man and Mannix. He was a corrupt Indian prince in U.N.C.L.E.’s “The Tigers Are Coming Affair,” and is remembered for playing Abraham Lincoln in “The Savage Curtain,” one of Star Trek’s over-the-top third-season episodes.
Bergere also appeared on Perry Mason, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, One Step Beyond, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Wanted Dead or Alive, and in dramas all the way back to The U.S. Steel Hour, Studio One and Robert Montgomery Presents. He also had roles in such lighter fare as The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Addams Family, My Favorite Martian, McHale’s Navy, The Munsters, Mr. Terrific, All in the Family and Maude.
His only series role was in the short-lived 1975 comedy Hot L Baltimore in which he played half of the first homosexual couple seen regularly on television. The series, based on Lanford Wilson’s award-winning off-Broadway play, was the first flop for groundbreaking producer Norman Lear.
Bergere continued to appear on television into the 1980s with recurring roles on Dynasty and Falcon Crest, and guest shots on Murder She Wrote and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
While he often exuded a continental air, Bergere was born in Brooklyn. He began his career on stage in the 1930s. During World War II he managed entertainment services for American troops serving in North Africa. Back in New York after the war, he broke into early television, making his video debut in a play co-starring James Dean.
