Jason Evers

After dropping out of high school and serving in the United States Army, Jason Evers (born Herbert Evers) decided to emulate his favorite actor, John Wayne, and pursue a career in entertainment. His big break came in 1960 when he landed the starring role on the western television series "Wrangler." Despite the short run of the show, Evers was able to gain considerable exposure, and he went on to cult fame with a lead role in the 1962 film "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." The following year Evers returned to a starring role on television with the drama series "Channing" and spent the rest of the 1960s, aside from a supporting part alongside his idol John Wayne in 1968's "The Green Berets," guest starring on other television shows, like "Gunsmoke," "Mannix," and "Perry Mason." His cult status would rise higher in the 1970s with a character part in "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" and the lead in the "Jaws" rip-off horror film "Claws." Evers spent the rest of the 1970s and 1980s as a guest star on television, appearing in such shows as "Happy Days," "The Rockford Files," and "Knight Rider," before earning his final credit as an actor with a minor role in the 1990 film "Basket Case 2." Evers died in 2005 from heart failure.