Steve Ihnat

Steve Ihnat wanted an escape from the dreariness of farm life and, after participating in a local play, decided that acting was his ticket out of Canada. He moved to the United States in 1958 and enlisted in the Army for a two-year stint in South Korea, where he placed second in a local poetry contest. Upon his return to the United States in the early '60s, he landed numerous minor TV roles, most notably appearing as a jealous detective in the New Orleans drama "Passion Street United States," also known as "Bourbon Street." In 1964, he landed a breakout role on the sci-fi anthology series "The Outer Limits" as Lieutenant Philip Minns, an Army officer who gains extraordinary powers after being wounded from a meteorite bullet. Ihnat's calm, powerful performance launched his career as a TV character actor; he appeared in memorable roles in everything from prime-time western dramas ("Rawhide," "Daniel Boone") to gritty crime series ("The F.B.I.," "Mannix"). Many of his best roles found him portraying complex villains; he appeared as a cunning Soviet Union intelligence agent in the action adventure series "Mission: Impossible" and guest-starred on "Star Trek" as the brilliant but insane ship captain Garth of Izar. In 1970, Ihnat wrote, directed, and starred in the largely-improvised boxing drama "Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring." Shortly before his death, he wrote and directed the western action film "The Honkers," starring James Coburn as a self-absorbed, past-his-prime rodeo champion looking for one last ride.