Dana Elcar: McGyver’s contact and more

Dana Elcar, at left, with Richard Dean Anderson in "MacGyver"

Source: MacGyver

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He was a unique hero for his time – a man who would take on spies; assassins; criminals and more but never used a gun. In fact, he was opposed to the use of guns. Instead, he made use of the materials and resources around him.

MacGyver got a bad rap over time, accused of implausible science like making a nuclear reactor out of chewing gum and barbed wire. Yet none of that was true. If critics watched the show, they would see the gadgets MacGyver crafted were not only plausible but, in fact, were vetted by actual science consultants.

Besides, he used those gadgets to help those who couldn’t help themselves. That makes him heroic.

Giving him his assignments every week was Peter Thornton, MacGyver’s contact with the Mysterious Phoenix Foundation.

Dana Elcar played Peter Thornton and, although he has been gone since 2005, it is his birthday today and a good chance to look back at an impressive career.

Back story
Dana Elcar’s TV career dates back to 1954 and a role on “A Time to Live”. He would go on to have roles in the soap opera “The Guiding Light”; and primetime series such as “Car 54, Where Are You?”; “Naked City”; “Dark Shadows”; “The Name of the Game”; “Gunsmoke”; “Mannix”; and “Get Smart”.

In the 1970s, he was in episodes of “Room 222”; “Ironside”; The Waltons”; “Kung Fu”; “Mission: Impossible”; “Cannon”; “Hawkins”; “Columbo”; “The Partridge Family”; “The Incredible Hulk”; “B.J. and the Bear”; and the miniseries “Centennial”.

He was also in 36 episodes of “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, a show about Second World War pilots, that ran from 1976 to 1978. Elcar played Colonel Thomas A. Lard, and that was one of the first roles I recall seeing him in. Lard was an authority figure, not much different from Peter Thornton, but more serious – military serious.

Elcar got his start in movies in “Fail Safe” in 1964. He would have parts in movies such as “A Lovely Way to Die”; “The Boston Strangler”; “Dying Room Only”; “W.C. Fields and Me”; “The Champ”; and more.

He was also in “The Sting” in 1973, one of my all-time favourite movies. That may be the very first time I ever saw him, when he played a fed. It was not too much different from his role as Peter Thornton.

As the ‘80s dawned, Dana Elcar had established himself as a solid supporting actor

Dawn of the decade
Elcar’s first movie credit was in “The Nude Bomb” in 1980. Don Adams returns as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, which he made famous on television. Edward Platt, who had played Max’s supervisor, The Chief, had died in 1974, so Elcar was cast to play The Chief. Once more, it was a character similar to Peter Thornton.

Elcar would go on to appear in movies such as “The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark” in 1980; “Condorman” in 1981, a movie I saw in the theatre in Grade 7; “All of Me” in 1984; and “2010: The Year We Make Contact” in 1984, where he played a Russian astronomer.

In 1986 he was in “Inside Out”, Elcar’s final movie appearance.

He was much busier on television, starting with “Galactica 1980”, a short-lived spin-off of “Battlestar Galactica”. Elcar was also in “Benson”; “Newhart” “The Fall Guy”; two different episodes of “Trapper John, M.D.”; “Knight Rider”; two different episodes of “The A-Team”; “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”; “Hill Street Blues”; “Riptide”; and some TV movies.

In 1985, he would land a role that would become his most well-known character

McGyver
Dana Elcar appeared in the pilot episode of “MacGyver” as Andy Colson, MacGyver’s contact with the Phoenix Foundation. In subsequent episodes, his name was changed to Peter Thornton. He would be the one giving the inventive operative his assignments. Elcar appeared in more than 125 episodes of the show which ran seven seasons from 1985 to 1992 for a total of 139 episodes and two TV movies.

Interestingly, Elcar began to go blind due to glaucoma during the sixth season of the show. That was written into the show, right through to its conclusion after the seventh season.

Elcar also had a guest role in “Matlock” in 1987.

The years after
Elcar had just a few roles after the conclusion of “MacGyver”. He was in the TV movie “For Their Own Good”; and episodes of “Law and Order”; “The Magic School Bus”; and, in his last TV appearance, an episode of “ER” in 2002. He played blind characters in all these shows.

Dana Elcar died in Ventura, California on June 6, 2005.

He was 77.

Parting thoughts
Dana Elcar always exuded authority. That’s what made him great as a fed in “The Sting”; a colonel in “Baa Baa Black Sheep”; and Peter Thornton in “MacGyver”. He was not obnoxious, guns blazing, or pushy. He was authoritative but not authoritarian.

In “MacGyver” in particular, where he was able to develop a character over seven seasons, he was also a friend, a confidante and someone MacGyver could joke with.

Dana Elcar is one of those actors whose name many may not recognize, but the minute they see his face, they will recognize him instantly.

That is a career well lived.