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IMDbPro

Jan Merlin(1925-2019)

  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
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Jan Merlin
Silk, the smoothest, toughest, and sexiest cop in Honolulu is hot on the trail of ruthless art smugglers who are after a priceless Asian Scroll. Silk will stop at nothing to get her man, even if it means blowing up an entire building.
Play trailer0:53
Silk 2 (1989)
1 Video
5 Photos
American character actor specializing in villainous types, much in television. A native of New York City, Merlin studied at P.S. 15, Mangin Junior High School, Grace Church Choir School for Boys, and Stuyvesant High School. During the Second World War, he served as a torpedoman in the U.S. Navy in both Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. Upon return to civilian life, he entered the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, became active in summer stock theatres and on Broadway, which brought him to Hollywood in 1954 for his first film Six Bridges to Cross (1955) (though Merlin had appeared in earlier television programs in New York, including a regular role on the children's program Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950). Merlin made a number of film appearances, primarily as a heavy. But his most frequent work was in television, where he played the near-psychotic bad guy to perfection in scores of shows, Westerns in particular. In 1958, he switched to a rare leading role, as one of the trilogy of stars in The Rough Riders (1958), a Western about three tough Civil War veterans. Merlin continued to act in occasional roles following his most prolific period of the Fifties and Sixties. In addition, in later years, as a sideline, he took work as official in the security department at a Los Angeles area airport.
BornApril 3, 1925
DiedSeptember 20, 2019(94)
BornApril 3, 1925
DiedSeptember 20, 2019(94)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos

Jan Merlin
Ben Cooper, Joan Evans, and Jan Merlin in A Strange Adventure (1956)
Jan Merlin in The Time Tunnel (1966)
Abby Dalton, Frank Lovejoy, and Jan Merlin in Cole Younger, Gunfighter (1958)

Known for

Another World (1964)
Another World
7.1
TV Series
  • Writer
Take the Money and Run (1969)
Take the Money and Run
7.2
  • Al - Bank Robber
  • 1969
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950)
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
7.0
TV Series
  • Roger Manning
  • Cadet Manning
  • Roger Manning (1950-1954)
Keanu Reeves and Pamela Gidley in Permanent Record (1988)
Permanent Record
6.3
  • Minister
  • 1988

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer

  • Another World (1964)
    Another World

Actor

  • Beverly D'Angelo and Mackenzie Astin in A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story (1992)
    A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story
  • Paradise (1988)
    Paradise
  • After the Shock (1990)
    After the Shock
  • False Identity (1990)
    False Identity
  • Tim Matheson in Buried Alive (1990)
    Buried Alive
  • Silk 2 (1989)
    Silk 2
  • Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, Charlene Tilton, Jim Davis, Linda Gray, and Steve Kanaly in Dallas (1978)
    Dallas
  • Time Trackers (1989)
    Time Trackers
  • Nowhere to Run (1989)
    Nowhere to Run
  • Keanu Reeves and Pamela Gidley in Permanent Record (1988)
    Permanent Record
  • Nancy Allen, Brian Robbins, Robert Culp, Rick Dees, Stan Shaw, and Ken Wahl in The Gladiator (1986)
    The Gladiator
  • George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz in The A-Team (1983)
    The A-Team
  • Thom Bray, Perry King, and Joe Penny in Riptide (1984)
    Riptide
  • Covenant (1985)
    Covenant
  • Masquerade (1983)
    Masquerade

Additional Crew

  • The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)
    The List of Adrian Messenger
    • (uncredited)

Videos1

Trailer
Trailer 0:53
Trailer

Personal details

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    • April 3, 1925
    • New York City, New York, USA
    • September 20, 2019
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
    • 1988 - September 20, 2019 (his death)
  • Other works
    Novel: "Brocade"
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Interviews

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    He won an Emmy as a writer for Another World (1964) (TV daytime series) in 1975, and was nominated again in 1979.
  • Quotes
    [on playing "heavies"] One of the disadvantages of being a "good guy" is having to look heroic and clean cut, while the "heavy" can be as grungy as he pleases...or sometimes wears far more fancy duds than his pursuer...maybe even be better looking!

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