Lyle Bettger
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1915-02-13
Day of Death
2003-09-24 (88 years old)
Place of Birth
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lyle Bettger
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(1993)
La Classe américaine
as Famous Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1980)
M Station: Hawaii
as Adm. Lincoln
(1970)
The Hawaiians
as Janders
(1969)
Impasse
as Hansen
(1967)
Return of the Gunfighter
as Clay Sutton
(1967)
The Fastest Guitar Alive
as Charlie
(1966)
Nevada Smith
as Jack Rudabough
(1966)
Johnny Reno
as Jess Yates
(1965)
Town Tamer
as Lee Ring
(1960)
Guns of the Timberland
as Clay Bell
(1959)
(1957)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
as Ike Clanton
(1956)
The Lone Ranger
as Reece Kilgore
(1956)
Showdown at Abilene
as Dave Mosely
(1955)
The Sea Chase
as Chief Officer Kirchner
(1954)
Destry
as Phil Decker
(1954)
Drums Across the River
as Frank Walker
(1954)
Carnival Story
as Frank Colloni
(1953)
All I Desire
as Dutch Heinemann
(1953)
The Vanquished
as Roger Hale
(1953)
Forbidden
as Justin Keit
(1953)
The Great Sioux Uprising
as Stephen Cook
(1952)
The Greatest Show on Earth
as Klaus
(1952)
Hurricane Smith
as Clobb
(1952)
Denver and Rio Grande
as Johnny Buff
(1951)
Dear Brat
as Baxter
(1951)
The First Legion
as Dr. Peter Morrell
(1950)
Union Station
as Joe Beacom
(1950)
No Man of Her Own
as Stephen Morley