- Born
- Died
- Birth nameIbsen Dana Elcar
- Height6′ 0¼″ (1.84 m)
- Dana Elcar was born on October 10, 1927 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Sting (1973), 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) and MacGyver (1985). He was married to Marianne Torrance, Mary Margaret "Peggy" Romano and Kathryn Frances Mead. He died on June 6, 2005 in Ventura, California, USA.
- SpousesMarianne Torrance(July 1, 1978 - 1995) (divorced, 2 children)Mary Margaret "Peggy" Romano(December 28, 1954 - November 1970) (divorced, 1 child)Kathryn Frances Mead(September 8, 1950 - 1952) (divorced)
- ChildrenMarin Leah Torrance ElcarNora ElcarChandra Elcar
- ParentsHedvig Thora AnderbergJames Aage Elcar Sr.
- RelativesElsie Marie Elcar(Sibling)James Aage Elcar Jr.(Sibling)Janet K. Melville(Half Sibling)Marie E. Hewitt(Sibling)
- Played leaders of secret/government agencies on several occasions.
- When he started going blind, his character Peter Thornton on MacGyver (1985) was also written with the same affliction. His blindness was also written into his guest appearance on Law & Order (1990), resulting from Diabetic Retinopathy.
- Went blind due to Glaucoma c. 1991 and required special computer equipment to read printed text for the rest of his life.
- Befriended Richard Dean Anderson on the set of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in 1982. Anderson remembered Elcar when production on "MacGyver" started, and recommended Elcar for the part of Pete Thornton, MacGyver's friend and director of operations at The Phoenix Foundation. Elcar appeared in almost every episode of the show, only backing out when becoming ill in his later years.
- His body double on MacGyver (1985) was Don S. Davis who would later star on Stargate SG-1 (1997) with Elcar's co-star Richard Dean Anderson.
- Dana drove taxicab in New York City in the early 1960s prior to making the move to Los Angeles and Hollywood.
- "The fact that you are losing your eyesight does not mean you have forgotten how to act." - in a speech to the National Federation of the Blind in 1991.
- [on working his real-life blindness into his character on "MacGyver"] Certainly I, and I hope Pete Thornton, can to some degree inspire that in people, that life is wonderful. It's a very, very incredible and wonderful thing to experience and because you lose one segment of it, doesn't mean that it's less valuable, or over, or need end, but you can continue and be positive to yourself and positive with other people.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
