Stephanie Zimbalist and her brother Skip have released this announcement:
"We are heartbroken to announce the passing into peace of our beloved father, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., today at his Solvang, Calif. ranch. He was 95 years old. A devout Christian, he actively enjoyed his life to the last day, showering love on his extended family, playing golf, and visiting with close friends. We will miss him dearly."
According to LA Observed, Zimbalist was outside watering the lawn when he died.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the suave leading man who starred on ABC for 15 straight seasons on
77 Sunset Strip and then
The F.B.I.
Zimbalist was a household name from 1958 through 1974 for his performances as dapper private eye Stuart Bailey on Friday night staple
77 Sunset Strip, which lasted six seasons, and as Inspector Lewis Erskine on
The F.B.I., which ran for nine.
A close friend of then-FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, Zimbalist ended many Quinn Martin productions on Sunday nights with a description of a fugitive wanted by the feds, exhorting viewers to be on the lookout. One of the more prominent names from this segment was James Earl Ray, assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Efrem’s character embodied fidelity, bravery and integrity. So much so that he inspired a generation of future FBI employees, many of whom pursued a career in the bureau because they watched
The F.B.I. series as they grew up,” FBI director Robert Mueller said when he presented an honorary Special Agent badge to Zimbalist in 2009. “In those days, he may well have been the bureau’s best and most effective recruiter!”
The son of renowned artists -- soprano Alma Gluck and violinist Efrem Zimbalist -- he was the father of actress Stephanie Zimbalist, who survives him. As the sly, silver-haired mentor of Pierce Brosnan’s title character on
Remington Steele, he appeared on the 1982-87 NBC series with his daughter on a handful of episodes.
In a career that spanned roughly 60 years, Zimbalist provided the voices of Alfred the Butler on several
Batman animated series, the villain Doc Octopus on a
Spider-Man cartoon and King Arthur on
The Legend of Prince Valiant. He had recurring roles on
Maverick in the 1950s,
Hotel in the ’80s and
Zorro in the ’90s.
In
Wait Until Dark (1967), he played the photographer husband of the blind Audrey Hepburn.
Zimbalist was born on Nov. 30, 1918, in New York and raised in a home of artistry and privilege. His father was a friend of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, and young Zimbalist received violin lessons from the father of Jascha Heifetz.
Later, he studied at the Yale Drama School and the Neighborhood Playhouse, then served in World War II and earned a Purple Heart., died Friday at his ranch in Solvang, Calif., his children announced. He was 95.
For more:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/e ... tar-700983