Stocky character actor Stanley Adams had a relatively minor career in motion pictures, with the possible exception of his baby-faced millionaire Rusty Trawler of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) fame. Otherwise, he played innumerable minor ethnic villains, bartenders and avuncular, fast-talking characters, known in the credits only by their first names. In other words, most of his roles were rather small. On television, conversely, he proved himself quite a scene-stealer, particularly in the...
Stocky character actor Stanley Adams had a relatively minor career in motion pictures, with the possible exception of his baby-faced millionaire Rusty Trawler of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) fame. Otherwise, he played innumerable minor ethnic villains, bartenders and avuncular, fast-talking characters, known in the credits only by their first names. In other words, most of his roles were rather small. On television, conversely, he proved himself quite a scene-stealer, particularly in the 1960's and early 70's, when his face appeared on just about every major show. He was at his best as pool hustler Sure-shot Wilson in an episode of The Odd Couple (1970), Rollo, a quirky time-traveling scientist on Twilight Zone (1959), and - famously - as 'asteroid detecting', tribble dealing galactic entrepreneur Cyrano Jones on Star Trek (1966). Alas, he was also a space carrot named Tybo on Lost in Space (1965)....
His suicide in April 1977 has been attributed to severe depression as a result of a back injury, sustained earlier in the decade. Apart from the obvious pain, it would almost certainly have limited his employment opportunities.
Date of Death 27 April 1977, Santa Monica, California (suicide)
Movies (Cast)
Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Gazebo
The Grasshopper
Trooper Hook
Black Patch
The Outsider
Nevada Smith
A House Is Not a Home
Dixie Dynamite
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
Somebody Up There Likes Me
The Clones
Valerie
Lilies of the Field
North to Alaska
Pirates of Tortuga
Hell on Frisco Bay
North by Northwest
Requiem for a Heavyweight
The Seven Minutes
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Calling Homicide
Ship of Fools
Thunder Alley
The Bold and the Brave
Double Trouble
Machismo: 40 Graves for 40 Guns
Saddle the Wind
One Foot in Hell
The Errand Boy
The Night Stalker
Fate Is the Hunter
13 West Street
Hell Ship Mutiny
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
High School Big Shot
Death of a Salesman
I Married a Woman
The Atomic Kid
Critic's Choice
The Wizard of Baghdad
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask