On this day in 1928, American actor Robert Lansing was born. His given name was Robert Brown, but he chose the surname “Lansing” after the capital city of Michigan. Lansing began acting in the 1950s on Broadway, a place he’d return to periodically throughout his career. In the decades that followed, he gained a reputation as a TV action star with series like “87th Precinct,” “Branded,” “The Man Who Never Was” and “The Equalizer.” He also made two notable appearances in the science fiction classics “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone.” Late in his career, he served as president of The Players, a fraternal club of theatrical professionals. He died in 1994 at the age of 66 shortly after filming the final episode of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.”
Factoid: The series finale of “Kung Fu,” which aired three weeks after his death, was dedicated in memory of Robert Lansing.
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