Perry Lopez

Over the course of his 40-year career, Perry Lopez appeared in everything from popular TV westerns ("Wagon Train," "Have Gun - Will Travel") to big-screen hits ("Kelly's Heroes," "Chinatown"). Lopez honed his acting skills onstage in the early '50s, branching out with small roles in projects like the low-budget horror film "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "The Lone Ranger," based on the popular TV series about a masked vigilante and his faithful Indian companion. In 1958, Lopez landed a recurring role on the family adventure series "Zorro" as Joaquin Castenada, a Spanish-European freedom fighter. A few years later, he memorably portrayed a trigger-happy outlaw in an episode of the long-running western series "Bonanza," and landed a guest role on "Star Trek" as a bewildered crew member trapped in a sinister amusement park. By the mid-'70s, Lopez had amassed several notable feature film roles; he was cast as a timid recruit in the World War II-era action comedy "Kelly's Heroes" and played Jack Nicholson's persistent partner and reluctant friend in Roman Polanski's critically acclaimed neo-noir "Chinatown." Shortly before his retirement from acting, Lopez reprised his role in the 1990 sequel, "The Two Jakes," directed by Nicholson and released to generally negative reviews.