Michael Ansara

**Michael Ansara** (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was a Syrian-American stage, movie and voice actor.

He was best known for playing of Cochise in the American television series _Broken Arrow_, Kane in the 1979-81 series _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_, Commander Kang on three different _Star Trek_ TV series, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart on the NBC series, _Law of the Plainsman_, and the voice for villain character Mr. Freeze in the Emmy Award winning series _Batman: The Animated Series_, _The New Batman Adventures_, _Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero_, and _Batman Beyond_.

## Early life

Ansara was born in a small village in Syria and moved to Lowell, Massachusetts. He was educated at the Los Angeles City College.

## Career

Ansara starred in his own ABC-TV series, _Law of the Plainsman_ (1959–60), with Gina Gillespie and Robert Harland. He performed as an Apache Indian named Sam Buckhart who had been appointed as a U.S. Marshal. The series began as an episode of _The Rifleman_. In 1961, he appeared as Carl in the episode "Night Visitors" of the NBC anthology series _The Barbara Stanwyck Show_.

Ansara also played in the Biblical epics _The Robe_ (1953) as Judas Iscariot, _The Ten Commandments_ (1956) as a taskmaster (uncredited), and _The Greatest Story Ever Told_ (1965) as Herod's commander. He also appeared as Belshazzar in Columbia's 1953 movie _Slaves of Babylon_. Guest starred with Kurt Russell in an episode of the 1960's series "Lost in Space".

### Later career

Ansara did voice-acting as Mr. Freeze in _Batman: The Animated Series_ as well as the animated movie _Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero_, an episode of both _New Batman Adventures_ and _Batman Beyond_. He also voiced Mr. Freeze in the video game _Batman Vengeance_.

Ansara retired in 2001.

## Awards

Ansara was nominated for an Academy of Science Fiction Award. He won a Western Heritage Award for _Rawhide_. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both movies and television.

## Marriages

Ansara was married to Jean Byron from 1955 until they divorced in 1956. He was married to Barbara Eden from 1958 until 1974. They had a son, Matthew Ansara, who died in 2001. He married Beverly Kushida in 1977.

## Death

Ansara died on July 31, 2013 of Alzheimer's disease in his home in Calabasas, California, aged 91.

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Michael Ansara
- **image**: Michael Ansara Law of the Plainsman 1959.JPG
- **caption**: Michael Ansara
in _Law of the Plainsman_ (1959)
- **birth place**: Syria
- **death place**: Calabasas, California
- **death cause**: Complications from Alzheimer's disease
- **citizenship**: United States
- **nationality**: Syrian-Americans, American
- **height**: 6' 3" (1.90 m)
- **education**: B.A. from Los Angeles City College
- **alma mater**: Los Angeles City College
- **notable works**: _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_,
_Broken Arrow_,
_Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_,
_Law of the Plainsman_,
_Star Trek_,
_Batman: The Animated Series_,
_The New Batman Adventures_,
_Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero_,
 _Batman Beyond_
- **known for**: Cochise,
Killer Kane,
Star Trek, Commander Kang_,
Sam Buckhart_,
Mr. Freeze (voice)
- **occupation**: Actor
- **yearsactive**: 1944–2001
- **spouse**: ,
,

- **children**: Matthew Ansara
(1965-2001; w/Eden)
- **awards**: Hollywood Walk of Fame, Western Heritage Award, Saturn Award