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.

Known For: Acting

Born: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1915-02-13

Died: 2003-09-24

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	No Man of Her Own	Stephen Morley	69
2	1950	Union Station	Joe Beacom	64
3	1951	The First Legion	Dr. Peter Morrell	68
4	1951	Dear Brat	Baxter	40
5	1952	The Greatest Show on Earth	Klaus	63
6	1952	Denver and Rio Grande	Johnny Buff	55
7	1952	Hurricane Smith	Clobb	62
8	1953	The Vanquished	Roger Hale	46
9	1953	All I Desire	Dutch Heinemann	70
10	1953	The Great Sioux Uprising	Stephen Cook	54
11	1953	Forbidden	Justin Keit	60
12	1954	Carnival Story	Frank Colloni	46
13	1954	Drums Across the River	Frank Walker	56
14	1954	Destry	Phil Decker	61
15	1955	The Sea Chase	Chief Officer Kirchner	61
16	1956	The Lone Ranger	Reece Kilgore	62
17	1956	Showdown at Abilene	Dave Mosely	52
18	1957	Gunfight at the O.K. Corral	Ike Clanton	70
19	1959	Gundown at Sandoval		0
20	1960	Guns of the Timberland	Clay Bell	61
21	1965	Town Tamer	Lee Ring	64
22	1966	Johnny Reno	Jess Yates	63
23	1966	Nevada Smith	Jack Rudabough	68
24	1967	Return of the Gunfighter	Clay Sutton	61
25	1967	The Fastest Guitar Alive	Charlie	43
26	1969	Impasse	Hansen	47
27	1970	The Hawaiians	Janders	54
28	1980	M Station: Hawaii	Adm. Lincoln	60
29	1993	La Classe américaine	Famous Man (archive footage) (uncredited)	76

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1950

No Man of Her Own

Stephen Morley

1950

Union Station

Joe Beacom

1951

The First Legion

Dr. Peter Morrell

1951

Dear Brat

Baxter

1952

The Greatest Show on Earth

Klaus

1952

Denver and Rio Grande

Johnny Buff

1952

Hurricane Smith

Clobb

1953

The Vanquished

Roger Hale

1953

All I Desire

Dutch Heinemann

1953

The Great Sioux Uprising

Stephen Cook

1953

Forbidden

Justin Keit

1954

Carnival Story

Frank Colloni

1954

Drums Across the River

Frank Walker

1954

Destry

Phil Decker

1955

The Sea Chase

Chief Officer Kirchner

1956

The Lone Ranger

Reece Kilgore

1956

Showdown at Abilene

Dave Mosely

1957

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Ike Clanton

1959

Gundown at Sandoval

1960

Guns of the Timberland

Clay Bell

1965

Town Tamer

Lee Ring

1966

Johnny Reno

Jess Yates

1966

Nevada Smith

Jack Rudabough

1967

Return of the Gunfighter

Clay Sutton

1967

The Fastest Guitar Alive

Charlie

1969

Impasse

Hansen

1970

The Hawaiians

Janders

1980

M Station: Hawaii

Adm. Lincoln

1993

La Classe américaine

Famous Man (archive footage) (uncredited)

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Joe	63
2	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Sheriff Matt Saver	73
3	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Self - Host	73
4	1955	Gunsmoke	Polk	66
5	1955	The 20th Century Fox Hour		54
6	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Sheriff Griff Evans	55
7	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	U.S. Marshal John Welker	55
8	1957	The Court of Last Resort	Sam Larsen	0
9	1958	The Rifleman		70
10	1959	Rawhide	Major Victor Darius	72
11	1959	Rawhide	Dan Madox	72
12	1959	Rawhide	Richard Whiting	72
13	1959	The Deputy	Aces Thompson	62
14	1959	Laramie		64
15	1959	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Phil Ross	63
16	1959	Law of the Plainsman	Sheriff Max Chaffee	60
17	1960	The Tall Man		63
18	1962	Combat!	Capt. Brauer	77
19	1963	Grindl		55
20	1963	Burke's Law	Captain Donahue	60
21	1963	Mr. Novak	Brigham	65
22	1963	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Ted Johnson	53
23	1964	Daniel Boone	Lehman Henderson	69
24	1964	Daniel Boone	Joseph Montgomery	69
25	1966	Blue Light		50
26	1966	The Time Tunnel	Maj. Hoffman	76
27	1967	Cimarron Strip		50
28	1967	Mannix		67
29	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Otis Klepper	71
30	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Dr. Sartain	71
31	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Jonathan Kaye	71
32	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Malcolm Rhodes	71
33	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Dr. Fleming	71
34	1968	Hawaii Five-O	General Dexter	71
35	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Karl Norton	71
36	1973	Police Story		69

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1950