Ron Harper dead: Hollywood actor who starred in Planet of the Apes TV series and Land of the Lost dies aged 91
ACTOR and Planet of the Apes star Ron Harper has died at the age of 91.
The Hollywood star, best known for the TV series based off the classic Charlton Heston movie, died at his home in Los Angeles.
The actor, who died of natural causes, also starred in Land Of The Lost.
Harper's daughter Nicole told The Hollywood Reporter he passed away at his home in West Hills, California on Thursday.
He worked on the TV series Land Of The Lost in 1976, after starring in Planet of the Apes.
Before those, he appeared in The Tall Man and Laramie.
READ MORE ON TV
In 2001 Harper worked alongside Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale in Pearl Harbor.
The 91-year-old also worked on Below Utopia in 1997, The Odd Couple II in 1998 and Freedom Strike in the same year 1998).
Later in 2005 he starred in Glass Trap and The Poughkeepsie Tapes in 2007.
His career in film and TV also stretched to soap operas, including Where the Heart Is and Love of Life.
After getting a degree from Princeton, Harper moved to Hollywood and began his start in theatre in 1955.
The actor returned to Broadway theatre in 1972 to appear in a production of 6 Rms Riv Vu.
He was offered a fellowship to Harvard Law School, but turned it down to pursue a dream of acting.
In 1966 he said: “I kept saying to myself, ‘Should you waste your good education being an actor?’
"And that little voice within me kept saying things like, ‘What do you want to take that fellowship to Harvard Law for?
"Be an actor. Starving is fun... And like the fool that any actor has to be, I listened to that dumb little voice.”
Harper is survived by his daughter, his son-in-law Daniel, granddaughters Ronnie and Harper and his ex-wife Shirley as well as his first wife actress Sally Stark.
