Roy Thinnes

Roy Thinnes
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Portrays:	Croft
Date of Birth:	April 6, 1938
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month!
Age:	87
Nationality:	USA
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IMDb profile

Roy Thinnes (born April 6, 1938) is an American television and film actor who portrayed Croft in the Original Series' "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I" and "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part II."

Thinnes is best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967–68 television series The Invaders. He also starred in the 1969 British science fiction film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (also known as Doppelgänger).

Career

Thinnes was born in Chicago, Illinois, of German descent. During his formative years, he wanted to become either a doctor or a football player. He started in show business at a radio station, where he performed various duties including engineering, DJ shows, news broadcasts, and dramatizations, which sparked his interest in acting. After serving in the United States Army as a military policeman, he relocated to California and attended Los Angeles City College.

Thinnes made his professional acting debut in 1957 as a teenage firebug in an unsold pilot for the television series "Chicago 2-1-2", which was later included in the anthology series Cavalcade of America. Over the next several years, he worked various odd jobs between acting engagements, including positions as a hotel clerk, vitamin salesman, and copy boy for Chicago columnist Irv Kupcinet.

His first primetime role came in 1962 with "A Fist of Five", an episode of Quinn Martin's The Untouchables, in which he portrayed a brother of an ex-policeman played by Lee Marvin. Thinnes gained his first major break appearing on the daytime soap opera General Hospital as the philandering Dr. Phil Brewer from 1963 to 1965, becoming a television equivalent of a matinee idol and sparking protest mail from fans when he briefly left the show.

In 1965-66, Thinnes starred as Ben Quick in the ABC television series The Long, Hot Summer, a short-lived series produced by 20th Century Fox Television. During its run, he received approximately 1,500 fan letters per week and appeared on the cover of TV Guide.

During 1967 and 1968, Thinnes achieved his greatest fame starring in The Invaders, portraying architect David Vincent who accidentally witnessed the arrival of aliens from another planet and waged a seemingly hopeless one-man campaign against them. The series became a cult classic and led to other "aliens vs earthlings" films and television shows. In a 2008 interview, Thinnes noted that while The Invaders had not achieved cult status in the United States, it maintained such status in France, where audiences knew the dialogue and the series was shown on cinema screens.

In 1969, Thinnes starred as Colonel Glenn Ross in the British science fiction film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (known as Doppelgänger in the UK), directed by Robert Parrish and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. His then-wife Lynn Loring also appeared in the film as his character's wife Sharon Ross, having been cast as a last-minute replacement when the original actress became ill. In a 2008 interview, Thinnes reflected on the film's premise, noting that while space exploration has since proven there is no planet on the opposite side of the Sun, at the time the concept was both conceivable and potentially frightening. The production presented unique challenges, as Thinnes and co-star Ian Hendry had to match movements previously filmed with puppets, including weightless sequences where they were suspended by wires. The filmmakers occasionally chose to reshoot principal photography rather than alter the special effects created with puppets, an expensive decision that amused other directors working at Pinewood Studios.

Thinnes continued working steadily in television throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He starred as Dr. James Whitman in the short-lived 1970-71 series The Psychiatrist and portrayed David Norliss in the 1973 television film The Norliss Tapes, a pilot for an unproduced series about a writer investigating the supernatural. He also appeared in the 1973 western Charley One-Eye, portraying a white deserter who encounters an African-American Union soldier and a half-breed Native American in the desert. He appeared in the disaster films Airport 1975 (1974) as the co-pilot and The Hindenburg (1975) as a sadistic SS captain. Thinnes later described working on The Hindenburg as participating in a masterpiece, praising director Robert Wise's meticulous approach to filmmaking. Wise, who had worked as a film editor for Alfred Hitchcock, treated cinema as an art form and prepared everything through artist renderings before filming began, ensuring that only necessary shots were filmed. The production utilized authentic details, including original dinnerware designed for the Hindenburg with manufacturer signatures and an aluminum piano, as everything aboard the airship was designed to be lightweight. Filming took place at El Toro Marine Base, which had hangars large enough to accommodate dirigibles, creating an immersive atmosphere with Nazi-era set dressing that Thinnes described as stepping into a time warp.

Thinnes was cast in Alfred Hitchcock's 1976 film Family Plot as nefarious jeweler Arthur Adamson when Hitchcock's first choice, William Devane, was initially unavailable. However, after Thinnes had already shot several scenes, Devane suddenly became available and Hitchcock fired Thinnes without explanation, reshooting all of his scenes. The unceremonious dismissal led to a famously public confrontation between Thinnes and Hitchcock at a crowded Chasen's Restaurant.

In 1979, Thinnes appeared in the miniseries From Here to Eternity as Captain Dana Holmes. During the 1982-1983 season, he appeared as Nick Hogan in 35 episodes of the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest, with his character's 1983 on-air marriage to Victoria Gioberti (played by Jamie Rose) becoming a major ratings event.

In 1988, Thinnes appeared in the original pilot episode of Law & Order, "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", as District Attorney Alfred Wentworth. When the show was picked up in 1990, Thinnes was contractually obligated to another television series - NBC's 1991 remake of Dark Shadows - and his character was replaced by District Attorney Adam Schiff, played by Steven Hill. In the 1991 Dark Shadows revival, Thinnes played the dual role of Roger Collins and Reverend Trask.

Thinnes appeared twice on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, playing two different characters: Alex Crown from 1984 to 1985, and General Sloan Carpenter from 1992 to 1995.

In the 1990s, Thinnes made two memorable appearances on The X-Files as Jeremiah Smith, an alien rebel with healing and shape-shifting abilities. The casting came about when a friend sent Thinnes an interview with series creator Chris Carter, in which Carter was asked if he had been influenced by The Invaders. While Carter did not directly answer the question about influence, he stated that he would love to have Thinnes on the show. Thinnes obtained Carter's office number and called him directly, catching the writer in the middle of a writing session. When Carter asked what kind of role he would like to play, Thinnes responded that Carter was a great writer and he would do whatever Carter thought best. Carter created an alien character that appeared in two episodes, though the role did not continue as originally envisioned. Series creator Chris Carter renewed the role for Thinnes in the February 25, 2001 episode "This Is Not Happening." Decades after portraying a man trying to convince others of an alien invasion in The Invaders, Thinnes found himself cast as an extraterrestrial character, providing an ironic full-circle moment in his career.

In 2001, Thinnes appeared in a small role as the Governor in Ron Howard's Academy Award-winning biographical film A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe as mathematician John Nash. In 2005, he co-starred as Dr. Theophile Peyron in The Eyes of Van Gogh, a film about Vincent van Gogh.

At one point, Thinnes was considered by Paramount Pictures for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, though Patrick Stewart ultimately secured the part.

Personal Life

Thinnes was first married to Barbara Edna Ainslee from 1962 to 1967, with whom he had one child. He married actress Lynn Loring on May 28, 1967, after she appeared with him in an episode of The Invaders titled "The Panic." Loring gave birth to their son Christopher Dylan Thinnes on February 12, 1969, and their daughter Casey Thinnes in 1974. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984. Following their divorce, Loring went on to become president of MGM/UA Television Productions, one of the highest-ranking female executives in Hollywood at the time. Loring died on December 23, 2023, at the age of 80 after a series of chronic illnesses, as confirmed by their son Chris Thinnes.

Thinnes subsequently married actress Catherine Smythe in 1987, with whom he had two more children. This marriage also ended in divorce in 2001. In 2005, Thinnes married film editor Stephanie Batailler, to whom he remains married.

References