Saturday, October 03, 2009

Spotted: John Zaremba

He always seemed to portray professional types: judges, lawyers, mayors, professors. But it's that white doctor's coat that he really wore well. He's John Zaremba, and on "Dallas" he was the trusted Ewing family physician, Harlan Danvers. Two years before he looked after Jock and Ellie, however, he played another doctor, on an episode of ABC's "Charlie's Angels."

In the 1976 (first season) episode "To Kill an Angel," Zaremba is Dr. Stafford, the kindly old clinician at a sanitarium whom Jill and Sabrina consult after Kelly is accidentally shot by a young resident of the facility. Dr. Stafford offers the Angels a clue to the past of this mysterious and troubled young boy: a timecard on which was written a request for the sanitarium to take care of the boy.

Examine the California-born Zaremba's resume and you really will find a wealth of doctorly roles. He played a doctor on "Fantasy Island," "The Streets of San Francisco," "The Rookies," "Banacek," "Bonanza" and more, all the way back to his first acting credit. His career -- as well as his work with the Ewings -- was cut short by a heart attack in 1986.

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