Janos Prohaska (born János Prohászka; October 10, 1919 – March 13, 1974) was a Hungarian-born American actor and
stunt performer
A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
. He appeared on American television from the 1960s and usually played the roles of animals (mostly bears and gorillas) or monsters.
He played a recurring comic role as The Cookie Bear on ''
The Andy Williams Show
''The Andy Williams Show'' is an American television variety show hosted by singer Andy Williams that ran on NBC (and was videotaped in color) from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'') ...
'' from 1969 to 1971. Prohaska also appeared in multiple roles on TV series including '' The Outer Limits'', '' Bewitched'', ''
I Dream of Jeannie
''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...
'', where he plays a gorilla. His only credited role on that series appears in the episode "Our Vines Have Tender Apes." He also played the title role in the 1965 Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Grinning Gorilla". In 1967 he appeared as a white gorilla in the "Fatal Cargo" episode of the ABC-TV sci-fi series '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea''.
He was in the first ''Star Trek'' pilot, ''The Cage'', as an ape and as a humanoid bird. "Prohaska, Janos: Anthropoid ape and Humanoid bird, 'Cage, The' (TOS); Horta; mugato; Yarnek, costumed" Later he was in three episodes of the original ''Star Trek'' series, wearing alien costumes he himself designed and made as the Horta in " The Devil in the Dark" "Horta (Janos Prohaska)... The Horta was designed, built, and performed by Janos Prohaska, who reportedly wore the costume into ''Star Trek'' producer Gene Coon's office. Coon liked the creature so much he wrote "Devil in the Dark" to feature it." and the mugato in " A Private Little War". "mugato (Janos Prohaska)... Janos Prohaska was also the Horta from "Devil in the Dark" and the Excalbian from "The Savage Curtain"... Prohaska designed and built the ''mugato'' from an ape suit he had previously built for another project."
He also stunt-doubled for both
Arnold Stang
Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009) ''
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...
in the 1963 film ''
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...
'' in which Stang, a small and lightweight man, wore shoulder pads under his costume so that his appearance would match the bulky appearance of Prohaska.
Prohaska made an appearance on an episode of ''
What's My Line?
''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...
'' in 1969, where he wore one of his ape costumes.
Personal life and death
HE was born on October 10, 1919 in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hungary. He was married to Irene M. Knoke from June 29, 1969 until his death on March 13, 1974. He and his son Robert were killed along with 34 others on March 13, 1974, at 8:28 p.m. in the crash of a chartered Sierra Airlines Convair CV-440 aircraft near
Bishop, California
Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...
, while filming the ABC/Wolper Productions television series ''Primal Man''. The plane flew into a mountain ridge in darkness, and the exact cause of the crash was never determined. His ashes were interred in the Mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica.