- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLeland Lando Lilly
- Rough-and-tumble character actor Ross Hagen was born Leland Lando Lilly on May 21, 1938, in Williams, AZ, the son of Lando Irvin Lilly and Mary Alice Johnson. Handsome and rugged, with a highly distinctive deep gravelly voice and a commandingly raw masculine screen presence, Ross was frequently cast as charming and likable tough guys on both sides of the law in a colorful and eclectic array of films and TV shows.
Hagen began his acting career in the mid-'60s doing guest spots on various television programs before crossing over into exploitation theatrical features with leading roles in the biker flicks The Hellcats (1968), Des filles à moto (1968) and Five the Hard Way (1969). Hagen's most memorable movie roles include smooth insurance agent Mike Harber in Ongles rouges et cuisses d'acier (1973), bumbling former coal miner turned wannabe mobster Charlie Jacobs in Bad Charleston Charlie (1973), vicious hitman Ray Mitchell in La vengeance de l'ange (1985), backstabbing con artist Cory Thorton in Armés pour répondre (1986), all-girl baseball team owner Midnight in Blood Games (1990), hard-nosed Army Capt. Jason Briggs in _Dinosaur Island (1989)_ (qv_, a skeptical sheriff in _Sideshow (1988)_ and private investigator Elwood Dick in Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (2005). Among the TV series he has guest-starred on are Le Virginien (1962), La grande vallée (1965), Le fugitif (1963), Les envahisseurs (1967), Daktari (1966) Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955), Mannix (1967), Kung Fu (1972), Mission impossible (1966), Cannon (1971), Les mystères de l'Ouest (1965) and L'homme qui tombe à pic (1981). He acted in almost 20 pictures for director Fred Olen Ray. His wife Claire Polan acted in a few movies with Hagen (the couple also briefly ran an acting school). In addition to acting, Hagen directed seven films (which include the immensely enjoyable action oddity Gant d'acier (1979) and the not half bad medical thriller B.O.R.N. (1989)), and he either co-produced and/or co-wrote a handful of features.
Ross died from cancer at age 72 on May 7, 2011.- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous
- SpousesClaire Polan(June 15, 1963 - December 3, 2003) (her death)Joan Corrine Hillyard(1957 - 1961) (divorced, 2 children)
- Deep, rough, gravelly voice
- Was raised on a farm in Oregon.
- Served in the United States Army.
- Tough-guy actor who got his start in TV westerns and action shows, then moved on to write, produce, direct and star in sub-par low-budget biker flicks and action films such as Five the Hard Way (1969), Ongles rouges et cuisses d'acier (1973) and Supercock (1975). He ran an acting school at one time with his wife and sometime co-star Claire Polan.
- Son of Lando Irvin Lilly and Mary Alice Johnson, father of Robert Leland Lilly and Julie Lynn Lilly with Joan Corrine Hillyard.
- [on producing a film] You just get up in the morning and go out and do it. Most people are completely shocked that you could go out and make a movie. Because it's been hidden -- the secret of making a film.
- [on making films in the Philippines] They're such wonderful people, the [Filipinos]. It's fun to work with them. They're always laughing, and everybody's having a good time. There's none of that sourpuss stuff. So I'd say my film experience in the Philippines was 100% good, happy times.
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