Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990) was an American character actor.

Early years

Lauter was born in White Plains, New York. He worked as a model for a professional photographer and was a rodeo rider before moving into acting. Lauter came from an entertainment-oriented family, with his father and grandfather having been part of The Flying Lauters trapeze act.

Career

Lauter's acting break came with a role in The Magnificent Rogue (1946), in which he played a model. He was a much seen presence in supporting roles in low-budget films, serials (where he was often cast because of his facial resemblance to stuntman Tom Steele, who would double for him), and seemingly innumerable television programs in the 1950s. Only once did he really come close to stardom, as Clay Morgan, one of the leads in the CBS television series Tales of the Texas Rangers, which aired fifty-two episodes from 1955 to 1958. His co-star was Willard Parker as Ranger Jace Pearson. Lauter portrayed Ralph Cotton on the television version of The Roy Rogers Show. He made appearances on many television programs, particularly westerns: The Gene Autry Show (sixteen episodes), Annie Oakley (twelve episodes), The Lone Ranger and The Range Rider (eleven episodes each), Gunsmoke and Rawhide (ten episodes each), Death Valley Days and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (seven episodes each), Laramie and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (six episodes each), The Virginian and State Trooper (five times each), and Cheyenne, Bonanza, and Maverick (three episodes each). In the 1958 episode of Tombstone Territory, "The Rebels Last Charge" as the guest star, he was cast as Confederate Sgt, Shelton, a member of a raider group of Confederate soldiers (this is supposed to be 1881) led by Richard Reeves. Harry dies (as usual) but it's a heroic death, he kills the renegade Apache chief which ends the Indian attack and in so doing saves the rest of the cast involved in the fight. In a departure from his appearance in westerns, he played the character of Atlasand, chief officer to Cleolanta the evil Suzerain of Ophesius, in several episodes of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger in 1953. Lauter appeared twice as Johnny Tyler in 1959–1960 in two episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. Lauter was cast twice on the NBC children's western series Fury, with Peter Graves and Bobby Diamond, and on Tombstone Territory, starring Pat Conway. Lauter also appeared on NBC's Jefferson Drum, National Velvet, and Riverboat, on CBS's Have Gun - Will Travel, with Richard Boone, and the syndicated western-themed crime drama U.S. Marshal. In 1958 he appeared in the episode "Rodeo", along with Lee Van Cleef, Barbara Baxley, and Dan Blocker, on the CBS crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen. Later he guest-starred in the 1962–1963 ABC drama series Going My Way with Gene Kelly. He also made a guest appearance in 1963 on CBS's Perry Mason in "The Case of the Potted Planter." He appeared in The Wild Wild West S3 E17 "The Night of the Headless Woman" as Marshal (1967). His last screen appearance was in 1979 as Marshal Charlie Benton in James Arness's ABC series How the West Was Won. Most of his career was spent as a capable second lead as a hero or a heavy, though he continued to play bit parts in larger pictures, including an uncredited part as a plain-clothes policeman in the 1949 crime drama White Heat, which starred James Cagney and Edmond O'Brien. He also had an uncredited, non-speaking role in the 1963 Stanley Kramer comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as a police dispatcher. The son of an artist, Lauter devoted much of his energy late in his life to his own painting and the operation of an art gallery.

Personal life

Lauter was married to Barbara Ayres. They divorced in February 1975, and in November of that year, he married fellow painter Doris Gilbert.

Death

Lauter died of a heart attack on October 30, 1990, in Ojai in Ventura County, California, at age 76. He was survived by his wife, two children and two step-children.

Selected filmography

Selected television