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He and his son Robert were killed along with 34 others on March 13, 1974, at 8:28 p.m. in the crash of a chartered Sierra Airlines Convair CV-440 aircraft near Bishop, California, while filming the ABC/Wolper Productions television series Primal Man.
Mar 14, 1974 · A Wolper spokesman said most of the victims of the crash lived in Los Angeles, among them Janos Prohaska, a popular actor on the old Andy Williams television series. The dead were identified as: Actors Janos and Robert Prohaska, Rick Ackerman, Loren Raymond, “Fish" Pashburn, Gene Carval, Jim Dickson and Miss Jackie Tang.
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Janos Prohaska was a Hungarian-born actor and stuntman, but he is ironically best known for playing animals and monsters on television and in films, such as "The Planet of the Apes." In addition to "Gilligan's island," he also played bears and assorted creatures in "Star Trek," "Bewitched," "Lost In Space" and "The Outer Limits." In "Gilligan, Maynard and Me," Bob Denver describes Prohaska as a very nice person but a devoted actor, adding that when Prohaska was in costume, he never broke from character. However, there are several behind the scenes anecdotes about him laughing at the absurdity in several comedy scenes in the series.
In his experience with ape costumes, Prohaska was even visited by cryptozoologist and Bigfoot researcher John Green to give his opinion on the Patterson-Gimlin footage, reported to be one of the best pieces of evidence to support the existence of Sasquatch. When asked what he thought of the film was faked, Prohaska replied, "I don't think so." He further added, "To me it looks very, very real." If the film was hoaxed, he thought it was remarkably realistic and sophisticated, and the best costume he had ever seen. The only plausible explanation was that someone might have glued false hair directly to an actor.
•Beauty Is As Beauty Does
•Our Vines Have Tender Apes
•The Pigeon
•Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend
•Forward March
•Feed the Kitty
Amongst the crew were director-writer Dennis Azzarella and actor Janos Prohaska. Flight 802 departed Hollywood-Burbank Airport at 18:14 to pick up the passengers at Bishop. The flight from Burbank to Bishop was conducted under VFR conditions and at 19:10 the crew contacted the Tonopah Flight Service Station (FSS) and cancelled their VFR flight ...
Shortly after its nighttime take-off, at 8:28pm, the propeller-driven twin-engine Convair CV 440 aircraft crashed into Poleta Ridge, in the foothills of the White Mountains at 6,100 ft. and exploded in flames. All four members of the flight crew and the 32 passengers on board were killed in the crash.
A plane crash claimed his life in 1974, while working on the ABC series Up from the Ape (aka Primal Man), which featured Anthony Zerbe and Paula Crist. His only son, actor Robert, perished alongside his father.
Died in a plane crash, along with his son, Robert Prohaska, while working on the ABC TV series Up from the Ape (1975) (aka "Primal Man"). Trademark Playing Gilligan's Island Gorilla, Ape, Orangutan, Lion, and Spider and Dusty's Trail Bears and Gorilla (in Gorilla Suits and Bear Suits)
