News

Jack Betts has sadly passed away.

The legendary actor, known for starring in spaghetti Westerns and appearances in films like Spider-Man and Gods and Monsters, died at the age of 96, his nephew confirmed.

Jack passed away in his sleep at home in Los Ojos, Calif., his nephew Dean Sullivan told THR.

Keep reading to find out more…

Jack shared a home with his friend, Everybody Loves Raymond actress Doris Roberts, until her passing in April 2016.

He took on many soap roles in his career, including Ivan Kipling on ABC’s One Life to Live, as well as General Hospital, Another World, All My Children, Guiding Light, and Generations.

He also starred in Franco Giraldi’s Sugar Colt in 1966, where he was billed as Hunt Powers for the first time, followed by about 15 spaghetti Westerns through 1973.

He played Henry Balkan in 2002′s Spider-Man.

He made his big-screen debut in 1959′s The Bloody Brood,...

Jack Betts, the New Jersey-born performer whose screen credits spanned Italian westerns and Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man, died peacefully on 19 June at his coastal home in Los Osos, Calif., his nephew Dean Sullivan told The Hollywood Reporter and was later quoted by several outlets. He was 96, a fact confirmed by TMZ and People magazine.

Raised in Miami, Betts said watching Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights ignited his ambition to act, a story he often retold and that friends repeated in obituaries. After studying theatre at the University of Miami and earning a scholarship to the Actors Studio, he debuted on Broadway opposite José Ferrer in Richard III (1953) before shifting to film with 1959’s The Bloody Brood.

In the mid-1960s Betts reinvented himself as “Hunt Powers” for a streak of eleven spaghetti westerns beginning with Franco Giraldi’s Sugar Colt (1966). Genre historians credit those pictures with giving him...

Jack Betts, the character actor who appeared in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) and over a dozen Spaghetti Western films, has died at the age of 96.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, Betts died Thursday in his sleep at his Los Osos, Calif. home, his nephew, Dean Sullivan, said.

Born Jack Fillmore Betts (saying he bore a relation to the 13th Potus Millard Fillmore) on April 11, 1929 in Jersey City, NJ, he grew up in Miami, where he eventually studied theater at University of Miami. Afterward, he moved to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in 1953’s Richard III.

When a friend asked him to help with an audition for Lee Strasberg’s famed nonprofit, The Actors Studio, the director of the prestigious acting school granted him a three-year scholarship to study there. As a result, the venerated Elia Kazan later cast him in a production...

Jack Betts, an actor who appeared in Sam Raimi’s 2002 “Spider-Man,” “Sugar Colt” and several spaghetti Western films, died on June 19. He was 96.

Betts’ nephew, Dean Sullivan, reported that the actor died in his sleep at home in Los Osos, Calif.

The actor was close friends with “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Doris Roberts, and the pair often attended events together in Hollywood from the late 1980s until her death in 2016.

Betts was born and raised in Jersey City, N.J. When he was 10 years old, he and his family moved to Miami. After graduating from Miami Senior High School, he pursued a degree in theater at the University of Miami. He then moved to New York to begin his acting career with his first supporting role on Broadway in the 1953 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”

He further developed his acting skills as a member of The Actors Studio,...

Jack Betts, the debonair character actor who starred in spaghetti Westerns, played Dracula for a fleeting moment on Broadway and appeared in such notable films as Spider-Man and Gods and Monsters, has died. He was 96.

Betts died Thursday in his sleep at home in Los Osos, California, his nephew, Dean Sullivan, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Betts was great friends with Everybody Loves Raymond actress Doris Roberts, with whom he shared a home and escorted her to events throughout Hollywood from the late 1980s until her death in April 2016.

A member of The Actors Studio, Betts portrayed Llanview Hospital doctor Ivan Kipling on ABC’s One Life to Live from 1979-85, and his soap opera résumé also included stints on General Hospital, The Edge of Night, The Doctors, Another World, All My Children, Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, Loving and Generations.

Betts bluffed his way into starring as the avenging title...