The man in the middle.

September 1, 2017 8:04 AM

RIP longtime character actor Richard Anderson, 91. First appearing in movies including Forbidden Planet, he then spent all his time running between the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. Bionic wiki previously. Variety obit.
posted by Melismata (21 comments total)

Richard Dean Anderson lives.
posted by SansPoint at 8:07 AM on September 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

"That's Oscar Goldman...[he's] much more valuable than Steve Austin." --40 Year Old Virgin

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posted by rhizome at 8:23 AM on September 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

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posted by briank at 8:30 AM on September 1, 2017

Six Million Dollar Man running sound
posted by Sphinx at 8:35 AM on September 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

DOT DOT DOT dot dot dot dot dot dot dot

Wikipedia: Although never explicitly stated during either series, it was implied that Oscar is Jewish - or, at least, that others would assume him to be. In one episode of The Bionic Woman, he used a pseudonym when travelling to a Middle Eastern country because he thought the “Goldman” name would not make him any friends.[6] In another episode, the shah of a fictional Persian Gulf country told Sommers he would never deal with a man named “Goldman”.

As a kid, it was probably the first time I realized a TV character could happen to be Jewish.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:51 AM on September 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

can they rebuild him? do they have the technology?

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posted by j_curiouser at 9:03 AM on September 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

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posted by allthinky at 9:18 AM on September 1, 2017

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posted by vibrotronica at 9:23 AM on September 1, 2017

Richard Dean Anderson lives.

Impressive, considering that he was in all those scrapes without a gun. (*ba-boom ching*)
posted by Melismata at 9:27 AM on September 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

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posted by SonInLawOfSam at 9:32 AM on September 1, 2017

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posted by Gorgik at 10:14 AM on September 1, 2017

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posted by Splunge at 10:37 AM on September 1, 2017

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posted by mikelieman at 11:02 AM on September 1, 2017

can they rebuild him? do they have the technology?

Sure thing. Let me go grab the one guy who knows how to work all the equipment.

Oh.

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posted by dances with hamsters at 11:06 AM on September 1, 2017

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I certainly enjoyed him/his character on both the Bionic Man and Bionic Woman - he struck me as a very believable gov't official. And like Room 641-A, even as a teen I was aware that his character was implicitly Jewish, which was an unusual thing in the mid-70's.

Finally, speaking as a guy in his 50's" living an active life into your 90s sounds like a pretty good run. Well done, sir! RIP
posted by mosk at 12:55 PM on September 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

I always thought Oscar Goldman was like Richard Helms with more personality

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posted by clavdivs at 1:09 PM on September 1, 2017

I've been watching METV over the summer. Anderson had an ongoing role in Perry Mason as police Lt. Steve Drumm (24 episodes from 1964 -1966), and a number of nice guest appearances on The Rifleman. My memories of him are dominated by Oscar Goldman, but he was in tons of stuff (including Murder She Wrote. Everyone was in Murder She Wrote.)
posted by billm at 1:55 PM on September 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Another obit reminded me Anderson was in the wonderful "Seven Days in May," which I am now on a mission to see for the first time in years.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 2:10 PM on September 1, 2017

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Sure thing. Let me go grab the one guy who knows how to work all the equipment.

Ugh, I see Dr. Rudy Wells passed away in December 2015. :( Martin E. Brooks, Who Played Dr. Rudy Wells on ‘Six Million Dollar Man,’ Dies at 90

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posted by Pryde at 4:56 PM on September 1, 2017

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posted by LEGO Damashii at 8:33 PM on September 1, 2017

He as Oscar Goldman, the first authority figure I respected.
posted by filtergik at 3:51 AM on September 2, 2017