Barry Morse, an actor best known for portraying Lt. Philip Gerard, who relentlessly pursued David Janssen’s Dr. Richard Kimble on the hit 1960s television series “The Fugitive,” has died. He was 89.
Mr. Morse died Saturday at University College Hospital in London, his son, actor Hayward Morse, told the Canadian Press news agency. A cause of death was not announced.
In the 1963 series debut of “The Fugitive,” Kimble is falsely accused of murdering his wife and escapes from Gerard. Kimble spends the next four years eluding the detective and hunting the one-armed man he believed was the real killer.
The finale, broadcast Aug. 29, 1967, made TV history – the ABC show was seen by more than 72 percent of viewers, a record that stood until “Dallas” eclipsed it 13 years later. In the climactic scene, Gerard shoots the one-armed man to save Kimble’s life.
His television work included miniseries such as “The Martian Chronicles,” “The Winds of War” and “Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story.”