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Skip Homeier, who played the menacing Nazi youth in the 1944 drama Tomorrow, the World! before appearing in scores of Westerns, war films and TV shows, has died. He was 86.
Homeier died June 25 from spinal myelopathy in Indian Wells, Calif., his son Michael told The Hollywood Reporter.
Homeier also is known to fans of the original Star Trek for portraying Melakon, a Nazi-like character, in the 1968 episode “Patterns of Force” and as the arrogant Dr. Sevrin, who carries a deadly bacteria within him, in 1969’s “The Way to Eden.”
Homeier also played Judge Charles Older, who heard the case against Charles Manson (Steve Railsback), in the acclaimed 1976 CBS telefilm Helter Skelter and appeared as the title character, a cop working the night shift out of Hollywood, in the 1961 NBC crime drama Dan Raven.
A native of Chicago, George Vincent Homeier portrayed violent or neurotic characters early in his career. He was billed as Skippy Homeier when he made his onscreen debut as a Nazi teen who arrives in Middle America in Tomorrow, the World!, starring Fredric March. (The kid actor had originated the role of Emil Bruchner on Broadway in April 1943).
The lanky Homeier later was memorable as a foolhardy man looking to make a reputation as a gunslinger in The Gunfighter (1950), starring Gregory Peck, and he played the jittery soldier Riley “Pretty Boy” Duncannon in Lewis Milestone’s Halls of Montezuma (1951) and the hit man Roxey in the Alaska-set film noir Cry Vengeance (1954), starring Mark Stevens.
He also appeared in Arthur Takes Over (1948), Sealed Cargo (1951), Sam Fuller’s Fixed Bayonets! (1951), Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952), Black Widow (1954), Between Heaven and Hell (1956), Stark Fear (1962), Don Knotts‘ The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) and Muhammad Ali’s The Greatest (1977).
Homeier’s resume was packed with Westerns, including Ten Wanted Men (1955), The Road to Denver (1955), Stranger at My Door (1956), Dakota Incident (1956), The Tall T (1957), Day of the Badman (1958), Comanche Station (1960) and Showdown (1963) for the big screen. On television, he showed up on Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, Branded, Bonanza and The Virginian.
The actor also had a recurring role as a mentoring doctor on the 1970-71 CBS drama The Interns and appeared in guest stints on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Millionaire, The Addams Family, The Outer Limits, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Fantasy Island, Vega$ and Quincy M.E.
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