Vale: Robert Conrad

US actor Robert Conrad, best known for The Wild Wild West, has died, aged 84.

He died of heart failure in Malibu, California.

“He lived a wonderfully long life and while the family is saddened by his passing, he will live forever in their hearts,” a family spokesperson said.

Conrad played James T. West, a Secret Service agent during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, on The Wild Wild West from 1965 to 1969. The show borrowed sci-fi themes with West and fellow agent Artemis Gordon (Ross Martin) sometimes solving crimes using technology that didn’t actually exist during the 1800s. Despite high ratings, the series was cancelled near the end of its fourth season as a concession to Congress over television violence.

Conrad later went on to star in two other series, The D.A. and Assignment: Vienna in the 1970s. He also starred in the war drama Black Sheep Squadron. He also played Tom Lopaka on detective series Hawaiian Eye.

He made numerous other appearances including Nash Bridges, Just Shoot Me!, Jesse Hawkes, Mannix, Adam-12, Mission Impossible, Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson and Maverick.

Conrad told the Television Academy in 2006 that he performed his own stunts on The Wild Wild West, becoming a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in Broadcasting and an inductee of the Stuntman’s Hall of Fame.

Source: CNN