Rod Perry Passes On

Rod Perry, who appeared in the The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and was a regular on the TV show S.W.A.T., died on December 17 2020 at the age of 86.

Rod Perry was born on July 30 1934 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. He received a track scholarship to Penn State and while he was there he set the world record in the 200-meter hurdles in 1957. He also played on the basketball team. Following his graduation he enlisted in the United States Army and served from 1958 to 1960. He then moved to New York City to pursue acting as a career. He appeared on Broadway in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968.

Rod Perry made his film debut in 1970 in The Evil Within. He went onto appear in the movies The Black Godfather (1974), The Black Gestapo (1975), and S.W.A.T. (2013).  He had a small role in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). He made his television debut in the TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman in 1974). The same year he appeared in the movie Trapped Beneath the Sea. He guest starred on Barney Miller before becoming a regular on the TV series S.W.A.T., playing Sergeant David "Deacon" Kay. He later made guest appearances on the shows Project U.F.O., Good Times, and Babylon 5.