Character actor James Gregory, famous as Inspector Luger on television
series
Barney Miller, died Sept. 16 in Sedona,
Ariz., of natural causes. He was 90.
Gregory, best known for his tough-cop television characters, actually got his
start on Broadway in the 1939 production of Key Largo
, in which he played a deputy
sheriff.
He would appear in nearly two-dozen plays in his 50-year career.
After returning from World War II, Gregory honed his in-charge persona with
roles in such films as PT-109, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and
The Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra.
Gregory brought those leathery characters to the small screen in the pilot
episode of The Twilight Zone and The Lawless Years
.
More than 15
years later, his work on Lawless earned him his most famous role as
Inspector Luger on Barney Miller (1975 through 1982), opposite Hal Linden
in the title role.
Gregory is survived by his wife of 58 years,
Anne.
