Steve Ihnat

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Steve Ihnat
Publicity Photo of Steve Ihnat
Born
Stefan Ihnat

(1934-08-07)August 7, 1934
DiedMay 12, 1972(1972-05-12) (aged 37)
Cannes, France
OccupationActor
Years active1958–1972
Spouse
(m. 1970)
Children1

Stefan Ihnat (August 7, 1934 – May 12, 1972) was a Slovak-born American actor and director. He emigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and later became a United States citizen.

Early life[edit]

Ihnat was born to Andrew and Mary Ihnat in Slovakia and was raised on a farm in Lynden, Ontario. His family settled there after fleeing his native Czechoslovakia in 1939, when he was five years old. Ihnat, his mother, father, younger sister, and two young boys from other families left Czechoslovakia three days before Prague was occupied by invading German forces in March of that year.[citation needed]

Film and television career[edit]

Ihnat moved to the United States in 1956 to pursue a career in acting and attended the Pasadena Playhouse.[1] He gained United States citizenship. In 1959, he played a truck driver in with cargo hijackers in an episode of Highway Patrol. At a time when he had difficulty finding work he enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years and served at Headquarters U.S. Army, Port Inchon, South Korea. In 1960, Pvt. Ihnat won second prize in the Republic of Korea poetry contest for his entry titled "Toil in the Night."

Ihnat guest-starred in many television series during the 1960s, including a mind-controlled lieutenant in the science fiction television series The Outer Limits in the two-part episode, "The Inheritors", (1964). In 1965, he guest starred as murderer Charlie Parks in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Duplicate Case."

Ihnat held over 70 guest credits in such well known series as Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" (1969) as the psychotic Garth of Izar and also two episodes of The Fugitive, entitled "Cry Uncle" (alongside Ron Howard) and "The Walls of Night". Other credits include Blue Light ("Field of Dishonor"), Gunsmoke (“My Father’s Guitar”, "Exodus 21:22", "Jenny" with Lisa Gerritsen (December 28, 1970), “The Mission” & "Noose of Gold"), The Silent Force ("Take As Directed For Death"), Bonanza ("Dead and Gone" as Johann Brunner, "A Dream to Dream" as Josh Carter and "Terror at 2:00" as Mr. Ganns), The Virginian ("Jed" and "Last Grave at Socorro Creek"), Mission: Impossible ("The Astrologer"), ("The Mind of Stefan Miklos"), Cimarron Strip ("The Hunted"), I Dream of Jeannie ("My Master the Rainmaker"), Mannix ("Huntdown", "End Game" and "To Draw the Lightning"), The F.B.I. ("Region of Peril" and "The Prey"), The Name of the Game ("The Chains of Command" and "Nightmare"), Medical Center ("Fright and Flight") and Perry Mason ("The Case of the Duplicate Case"). In 1971 Inhat was in Sweet, Sweet Rachel, a TV movie that formed the basis for the series The Sixth Sense.

Ihnat had several guest roles in Mission: Impossible including the brilliant Soviet Union investigator Stefan Miklos in the 1969 episode "The Mind of Stefan Miklos," widely praised as one of the most cerebral and intelligent episodes of the entire series. While he played other roles (mostly villains, like in "The Astrologer") in the show, his performance in this episode is his most memorable.[citation needed]

From 1964 to 1968 he appeared in eight feature films. He often played villains, using his abilities to subtly turn one-dimensional characters into complex and multi-dimensional antagonists. In 1968, Lamont Johnson cast him in the film Kona Coast in which Ihnat played a murderous playboy in Hawaii doping up teenagers and causing mayhem to the property and person of the character played by lead actor Richard Boone. Also in 1968, he memorably portrayed a murderous thug in the film Madigan, starring Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda and a NASA administrator in the film Countdown, directed by Robert Altman and starring James Caan and Robert Duvall. His other film credits included The Chase (1966), In Like Flint (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967), Zig Zag (1970), and Fuzz (1972).

Ihnat was a screenwriter and director as well. He wrote, produced and starred in Do Not Throw Cushions Into The Ring, which while never released, led to his receiving the plum position of directing The Honkers, starring James Coburn, with whom he had appeared in In Like Flint. He also co-wrote the movie with Stephen Lodge.

Personal life[edit]

Ihnat was married to Marya Carter, who posed as Playboy's Playmate of the Month for May 1962. Carter had a daughter from a previous marriage.[citation needed]

Death[edit]

Ihnat died of a heart ailment on May 12, 1972, attending[2] the Cannes Film Festival in France.[3] His death, at age 37, came one month after the birth of his son, Stefan. In addition to his wife and son and stepdaughter, he was also survived by his mother.

Ihnat was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[3]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Dragstrip Riot Dutch
1960 Date Bait
1963 Strike Me Deadly Al
1964 Passion Street, U.S.A. Dick Budman
1965 Brainstorm Dr. Copleand, Interne Uncredited
1966 The Chase Archie
1967 In Like Flint Carter
1967 Countdown Ross Duellan
1967 Hour of the Gun Andy Warshaw
1968 Madigan Barney Benesch
1968 Kona Coast Kryder
1968 Bonanza Josh Carter S9:E26, A Dream to Dream
1969 Star Trek: The Original Series Fleet Captain Garth of Izar S3:E14, Whom Gods Destroy
1969 Here Come the Brides Sergeant Todd S2 E3 The Soldier
1970 Zig Zag Asst. Dist. Atty. Herb Gates
1970 Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring Christopher Belton
1972 Fuzz Det. Andy Parker Posthumous release

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cameron, Nancy (May 2, 1971). "Steve Ihnat To Direct Rodeo Saga In Carlsbad". Carlsbad Current-Argus. New Mexico, Carlsbad. p. 3. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-7864-5019-0. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Steve Ihnat, Actor and Director, Dead". The New York Times. May 20, 1972. p. 36.

External links[edit]