Ron Harper, whose career on the tube encompassed some six decades, has passed away. He was 91.

Ron Harper, Rest In Peace

Harper died from natural causes on Thursday at his home in West Wills. His daughter, Nicole Longeuay, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.

Having deferred a fellowship to study law at Harvard in order to learn at the feet of acting impresario Lee Strasberg, Harper completed a stint in the US Navy before heading for New York where he snagged a plum-ish role: Paul Newman’s understudy in Sweet Bird of Youth.

Harper soon defected for the West Coast where he appeared in a succession of TV series (87th Percent, Wendy and Me, Planet of the Apes, Land of the Lost et al.), the majority of them doomed to comparatively brief runs.

The actor appeared in a number of daytime dramas — Where the Heart Is, Love of Life, Another World, Loving — though fans of the genre probably know him best for his work on Capitol (where his Jared Morgan was revealed to be plastic surgery altered Baxter McCandless, the family’s presumed deceased patriarch) and Generations (where he played ne’er-do-well Peter Whitmore).

Harper’s film credits include The Wild Season, The Odd Couple II, Pearl Harbor, and The Poughkeepsie Tapes.

He is survived by his daughter, her husband, Daniel, their children, Ronnie and Harper, and his ex-wife, Shirley. His first was actress Sally Stark [ex-Kate Swanson, Love of Life; ex-Sharon Duval, Days of our Lives et al.

Daily Drama extends our sincerest condolences to Ron Harper’s family, friends, and fans.

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