Actor Ray Walston dies at age 86

E-mail this article Print this article

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Ray Walston, who played the lovable extraterrestrial Uncle Martin on the 1960s sitcom "My Favorite Martian" and the devil in the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees," has died. He was 86.

The actor, who died Monday at his home in Beverly Hills, was a bantam figure with an improbably deep, authoritative voice.

He made a career playing kind-hearted cranks, including the acerbic Judge Henry Bone in the TV series "Picket Fences" and the crusty, slacker-hating history teacher Mr. Hand in the 1982 comedy "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

He won a Tony in 1955 for "Damn Yankees" and two successive Emmys in 1995-96 for "Picket Fences."

In "My Favorite Martian," Walston played opposite Bill Bixby as a Martian stranded on Earth. His antennae-sprouting alien character masqueraded as Bixby's "Uncle Martin" and spent most of his time trying to conceal his identity from curious Earthlings.

DNA tests free prisoner after 14 years

ANGOLA, La. - A man convicted of killing an elderly couple 14 years ago was released yesterday, joining his alleged accomplice in freedom after DNA tests pointed to their innocence.

District Judge Cynthia Woodard agreed with prosecutors who said there wasn't enough physical evidence tying Albert Burrell, 45, to the 1987 slayings of William and Callie Frost. Alleged accomplice Michael Graham Jr., 37, was freed last week.

Drive home from New Year's party ends with four dead

NEW YORK - The parents of a 10-month-old baby and a couple engaged to be married were killed on their way home from a New Year's party early yesterday when their car slammed into a sanitation truck and exploded.

Gezim and Arleta Xhaferri and their friends Gentian Demiraj and Suela Njolli, all of Brooklyn, struck the front-end loader as it was being used to remove snow on a Brooklyn street. The driver of the front-end loader narrowly escaped the flames.

Neighbors said the Xhaferris were the parents of a baby girl named Agalia, who is staying temporarily with one of her grandmothers in Albania.