Efrem Zimbalist Jr. 1918-2014
An undated publicity photo of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Handsome, debonair and blessed with a distinguished voice that reflected his real-life prep school upbringing, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was a prolific actor whose greatest fame came as a brilliant G-man in the classic series, "The F.B.I."
The actor died on Friday, May 2, 2014, at the age of 95.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan; The Associated Press contributed to this report
"House of Strangers"
Born in New York City on Nov. 30, 1918, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.'s father was a violin virtuoso, his mother an acclaimed opera singer. He studied violin himself before turning his interest to the theater.
After serving in World War II, he made his stage debut in "The Rugged Path," starring Spencer Tracy, and appeared in other plays and a soap opera before being cast in minor film roles, including "House of Strangers" (1949), with Edward G. Robinson and Richard Conte (left).
"Bombers B-52"
"Home Before Dark"
"77 Sunset Strip"
"A Fever in the Blood"
"By Love Possessed"
"The Chapman Report"
"The F.B.I."
When "77 Sunset Strip" ended in 1964, Zimbalist became an even bigger star playing the empathetic, methodical G-Man Lewis Erskine in "The F.B.I."
"The FBI"
At the end of each episode, after Zimbalist and his fellow G-men had captured that week's mobsters, subversives, bank robbers or spies, the series would post real photos from the FBI's most-wanted list. Some of them led to arrests, which helped give the show the complete seal of approval of the agency's real-life director, J. Edgar Hoover.
"The F.B.I." aired until 1974.