Dana Elcar

Dana Elcar
Birth name	Ibson Dana Elcar
Born	October 10, 1927 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA
Died	June 6, 2005 in Ventura, California, USA from complications from pneumonia
Notable Roles
Notable Episodes
Awards

Biography

Dana Elcar was the actor who played Pete Thornton in the popular 80s television show MacGyver. His parents were Danish immigrants. His father worked as a butcher, while his mother a nanny. Both were able to send him to the University of Michigan where he founded the Ann Arbor theater. After his service with the US Navy, he entered the world of show business appearing on several television shows. Later in his life, he developed glaucoma and was already going blind even before the TV show MacGyver ended. Like the actor, the character Pete Thornton was given the same eye disease to increase awareness on glaucoma. He continued to act and took on roles as a blind person until his death on June 6, 2005.

Roles

Starring Roles

Series	Role	Year(s)	Season(s)
Baretta	Inspector Shiller	1975	1
Baa Baa Black Sheep	Col. Thomas A. Lard	1976–1978	1	2
MacGyver	Pete Thornton	1985–1992	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Guest Starring Roles

Series	Role	Episode	Airdate
The DuPont Show of the Week	Dennis Wilcox	2x04 - Big Deal in Laredo	October 7, 1962
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Lovett	1x03 - Fly, Shadow	October 11, 1962
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Fuller	1x09 - Two Black Candles	November 22, 1962
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Fuller	2x12 - To Spend, to Give, to Want	December 12, 1963
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Zach Fuller	2x18 - The Intern Syndrome	January 23, 1964
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Zack Fuller	3x02 - The Suspect (1)	September 29, 1964
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Zack Fuller	3x03 - The Suspect (2)	October 6, 1964
The Patty Duke Show	Henry Anderson	2x13 - Best Date in Town	December 9, 1964
The Nurses (1962)	Dr. Fellowes	3x30 - An Unweeded Garden	May 11, 1965
Mannix	Fred Restin	1x17 - Deadfall (1)	January 20, 1968
Mannix	Fred Restin	1x18 - Deadfall (2)	January 27, 1968
Run for Your Life	Dr. George Graham	3x19 - The Killing Scene	February 1, 1968
The F.B.I.	Howard Bergdahl	3x22 - The Messenger	March 17, 1968
Judd for the Defense		2x07 - Weep the Hunter Home	November 8, 1968
Mannix	Sheriff Conrad Bucola	2x12 - Fear I to Fall	December 21, 1968
The F.B.I.	Howard Swift	4x24 - The Young Warriors	March 9, 1969
Bonanza	Caleb Milton	10x28 - Speak No Evil	April 20, 1969
Ironside	Jackson Tobey	3x05 - Eye of the Hurricane	October 9, 1969
Get Smart	Kruger	5x07 - And Baby Makes Four (1)	November 7, 1969
Get Smart	Kruger	5x08 - And Baby Makes Four (2)	November 14, 1969
Hawaii Five-O	Dr. A. L. Benjamin	2x23 - Three Dead Cows at Makapuu (1)	February 25, 1970
Mannix	Tom Coleman/Al Beckworth/ Darrell Andrews/Charles Vincent Addison	3x22 - The Search for Darrell Andrews	February 28, 1970
Hawaii Five-O	Dr. A. L. Benjamin	2x24 - Three Dead Cows at Makapuu (2)	March 4, 1970
Mission: Impossible	C.W. Cameron	5x02 - Flip Side	September 26, 1970
Gunsmoke	Pennigrath	16x06 - Snow Train (1)	October 19, 1970
Gunsmoke	Pennigrath	16x07 - Snow Train (2)	October 26, 1970
The F.B.I.	Ed Garth	6x19 - The Fatal Connection	January 31, 1971
Ironside	Bill O'Brien	4x18 - A Killing at the Track	February 4, 1971
Ironside	Joe Markham	5x06 - Joss Sticks and Wedding Bells	October 26, 1971
The F.B.I.	Ewing Carter	7x11 - Superstition Rock	November 28, 1971
Cannon	Sam	1x23 - Cain's Mark	March 7, 1972
Ironside		6x02 - The Savage Sentry	September 21, 1972
Cannon	Mr. Ryan	2x07 - A Long Way Down	October 25, 1972
Bonanza	Mr. Merrick	14x08 - The Twenty-Sixth Grave	October 31, 1972
Mannix	Skip Seldon	6x17 - A Matter of Principle	January 14, 1973
Kung Fu	Pritikin	1x07 - Nine Lives	February 15, 1973
Kung Fu	Noah Jones	2x02 - The Assassin	October 4, 1973
Columbo	Falcon	3x02 - Any Old Port in a Storm	October 7, 1973
The F.B.I.		9x07 - Fatal Reunion	November 4, 1973
The Rockford Files	Sheriff Mitchell	2x06 - The Great Blue Lake Land and Development Company	October 17, 1975
Cannon	John Brinegar	5x14/15 - The Star	December 10, 1975
The Incredible Hulk	Sheriff Harris	2x11 - Escape From Los Santos	December 1, 1978
One Day at a Time	Captain	5x09 - A Little Larceny	December 2, 1979
Falcon Crest	Carl Reed	1x03 - The Tangled Vines	December 18, 1981
Falcon Crest	Carl Reed	1x13 - The Candidate	February 26, 1982
Falcon Crest	Carl Reed	1x15 - Heir Apparent	March 19, 1982
Newhart	Sam Ebersol	1x13 - The Visitors	January 17, 1983
Knight Rider	Strock	2x04 - Merchants of Death	October 16, 1983
Hart to Hart	Admiral Springfield	5x04 - Pandora Has Wings	October 25, 1983
The Fall Guy	Dean Hackett	4x05 - Terror U.	October 17, 1984
The A-Team	George Olson	3x06 - Double Heat	October 23, 1984
Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Mitch Larner	2x13 - Spiderweb	January 14, 1985
Hill Street Blues	Lt. Mel Taber	5x16 - Washington Deceased	February 7, 1985
The A-Team	Judge Mordente	4x01/02 - Judgement Day	September 24, 1985
MacGyver	Andy Colson	1x01 - Pilot	September 29, 1985
Matlock	Hughes	1x17 - The Court-Martial (1)	February 17, 1987
Matlock	Hughes	1x18 - The Court-Martial (2)	February 24, 1987
Law & Order	Robert Cook	3x19 - Virus	April 21, 1993
ER	Manny Kindlevich	8x13 - Damage Is Done	January 31, 2002