There haven’t been that many working actors from Atlantic City (James Avery and Rosalind Cash come immediately to mind), but Jeremy Slate was one of them. He passed away Nov. 19 after cancer surgery.
Born in Atlantic City on February 17, 1926, he was never famous but he did a slew of television guest spots and the occasional movie in his long career. You can catch him in an unaccredited role as a policeman in Hitchcock’s classic North By Northwest, and John Wayne killed him (and fellow bad guy Dennis Hopper) in True Grit. He also died on-screen trying to save John Wayne’s life in The Sons of Katie Elder. A World War II veteran who saw action at Omaha Beach, he got into acting in his thirties after careers as a lifeguard, sportscaster and public relations man. His other film roles include GI Blues and Girls! Girls! Girls! opposite Elvis, Born Losers, Hells Angels ’69 (which he co-wrote) and Lawnmower Man. He was the star of the 1960 TV series The Aquanauts, and was a long time regular on the soap opera One Life to Live in the 1980s. His many TV guest spots include the shows Combat, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bonanza, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Route 66, Perry Mason and Have Gun, Will Travel. More recently he guested on My Name Is Earl.