In Remembrance: Jason Evers

     Jason Evers, the actor best known for his role in the campy cult classic The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, has passed away on March 13, 2005 in Los Angeles. He was 83.

     Born Herb Evers on January 2, 1922 in New York City, Evers spent much of his formative years seeing plays thanks to his father’s job as a ticket broker. He dropped out of school to join the Army during World War II. After the war he began his acting career working in repertory companies.

     After a small role in 1960’s Pretty Boy Floyd, Evers landed a lead role on the western television series Wrangler. Although the series didn’t last long, Evers landed the lead in 1962’s The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, as an experimental surgeon seeking a replacement body for his fiancee’s decapitated head. He also appeared in the films Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion (1967), The Green Berets (1968) with John Wayne, The Illustrated Man and A Man Called Gannon (both 1969). He also starred in two more television series during the 1960s—the drama Channing and the western The Guns Of Will Sonnet—as well as made numerous guest appearances on shows including Cheyenne, Gunsmoke, The Defenders, The FBI, The Green Hornet, Death Valley Days, Manix and Star Trek.

     Evers continued to work prominently in television through the 1970s and `80s, guest starring on such shows as Mission: Impossible, Cannon, The Rookies, Barnaby Jones, The Rockford Files, Happy Days, Vega$, Heart To Heart, The Fall Guy, Murder, She Wrote and Matlock. He still found time to make the occasional film appearance including 1971’s Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, 1977’s comedy A Piece Of The Action and the 1978 horror film Barracuda. His last film was the 1990 horror film Basket Case 2.