Harry Holcombe

Harry Holcombe, a prominent character actor of the 1960s and '70s, made his film debut with a bit part as a Nazi pilot in the 1943 war drama "The Purple V." It'd be another 10 years before Holcombe would find his way to television, where he landed the lead in the small-town drama series "The Wonderful John Acton." The show failed to catch on, but Holcombe became a familiar face on television, earning a string of one-off roles on popular programs throughout the 1960s, including the Miami-set cop drama "Surfside 6," the science-fiction family-comedy "My Favorite Martian," and the witch-in-suburbia comedy "Bewitched." It was his work in sitcoms that led to comedic roles in films like the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau buddy comedy "The Fortune Cookie" and the Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda blended-family comedy "Yours, Mine and Ours." By the 1970s, Holcombe had become a recurring figure in commercials, playing Grandpa in the admired Country Time Lemonade TV spots. He also branched out into exploitation movies with a role in the pivotal Pam Grier blaxploitation feature "Foxy Brown." After a role opposite a boxing kangaroo in the crime caper "Matilda," Holcombe retired, having appeared in more than 80 film and television productions.