Ron Harper, Star of Land of the Lost and Planet of the Apes, Dies at 91

Ron Harper, an actor known for his work on Land of the Lost, 87th Precinct, and the Planet of the Apes television series, has passed away at the age of 91. Harper’s passing was confirmed via a statement from his daughter, Nicole Longeuay, who revealed that he passed away due to natural causes. His death reportedly occurred on Thursday, March 21st, at his home in West Hills, California.

Harper was born on January 12, 1933 in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. He attended Princeton University, where he was a member of the University Players acting troupe. He then chose to study acting under Lee Strasberg, declining an offer to study law at Harvard in the process. In 1959, following a stint in the U.S. Navy, Harper was cast as Paul Newman’s understudy in a Broadway production of Sweet Bird of Youth. He then made his onscreen debut a year later, in an episode of the NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo.

Harper went on to appear in a number of projects in guest roles, including Thriller, Wagon Train, The Deputy, and The Tall Man. He then was cast as Detective Bert Kling in NBC’s cop procedural 87th Precinct, a role he played for thirty episodes. He subsequently had major roles as Jeff Conway in Wendy and Me, Paul Marshall on The Jean Arthur Show, and Lt. Craig Garrison in Garrison’s Gorillas. 

“It was a well-done series and we had good stories,” Harper later said of Garrison’s Gorillas in an interview with Classic Film and TV Café. “We had very nice ratings. I think there was a mood prevalent in our country at that time about too much violence on TV. There was criticism about too much shooting and people killing each other on television. We were starting to get affected by that. When you do a war series, there’s going to be violence and crime and shooting. It’s not just a situation comedy where you tell a joke. The producers were very aware of this criticism about violence and we had to be very careful about it. I remember that once or twice, the director had one of my comrades departing somewhere and turning around and shooting somebody. After we shot the scene, I said: “We don’t want to show that. That’s exactly what some of the critics are talking about–unnecessary violence. We have to cut down the violence to what’s required for the plot. We can’t haphazardly shoot somebody.”

Following Garrison’s Gorillas, Harper had stints on Where the Heart Is, Planet of the Apes, Land of the Lost, and Another World. In the 1990s, he made cameo appearances on Beverly Hills, 90210, Walker, Texas Ranger, Malibu, CA, Boy Meets World, and the pilot of Melrose Place. His final credits included Uncorked, Whoa!, and Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story.

Our thoughts are with Harper’s family, friends, and fans at this time.