Original DEATH OF A SALESMAN Cast Member, Don Keefer, Dies at 98

Among other roles, Don Keefer originated the role of Bernard in DEATH OF A SALESMAN on Broadway, directed by Elia Kazan, which ran from February 1949 to November 1950.

Stage and screen actor Donald Hood Keefer, 98, died in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Though he only appeared in one Broadway show following DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Keefer's talents were desired and utilized by many film-makers after that, especially in a famous episode of The Twilight Zone entitled, "It's a Good Life." The episode was about a town that lived in constant fear of a strange boy who could Other notable screen appearances include roles in The Caine Mutiny, Woody Allen's Sleeper, and Liar, Liar, starring Jim Carrey.

Born in Highspire, Penn., Keefer graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1939, and in the same year, he performed Shakespeare scenes at the New York World's Fair.

He made his Broadway debut in JUNIOR MISS in 1941, followed by OTHELLO in 1945. He was one of the early members of the Actors Studio, where he studied the Method.

His first television appearance was on an episode of The Borden Show (1947). Less than a year after DEATH OF A SALESMAN closed on Broadway, Keefer reprised his role in the 1951 movie alongside original cast members Cameron Mitchell (Happy Loman) and Milldred Dunnock (Linda Loman). Among his more than 150 other screen appearances, he had roles in films including Hellcats of the Navy (1957) alongside Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, The Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming (1966), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

Keefer had roles in almost every famous television show of the '60s and '70s, including Gunsmoke, The Munsters, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission: Impossible, The Waltons, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Columbo.