‘Soap’ Star Donnelly Rhodes Dies @ 80

Via Deadline: Veteran actor Donnelly Rhodes, whose career stretched back to early TV and encompassed over 160 movies and series, has died. He had just turned 80 last month.

He died in hospice in British Columbia following a battle with cancer.

Canada-born Rhodes worked for the National Park Service and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, but then shifted focus and studied at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Much of his early work was on TV in the U.S. Following uncredited bits in the '50s, he made his official debut on an episode of the Charles Bronson (1921-2003) series Man with a Camera in 1960. His rugged, handsome looks kept him busy in episodic TV, especially westerns like Maverick (1960), Cheyenne (1960), Wagon Train (1965) and The Wild Wild West (1967, 1969).

Opposite Anne Francis (1930-2011) on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Image via NBC)

On Dr. Kildare with Patricia Barry (1922-2016) in 1965 (Image via NBC)

He gave memorable performances in "Ten Minutes from Now" (1964) and "The Trap"(1965), episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

In a 1973 episode of the Harlan Ellison (b. 1934) series The Starlost (Image via CTV)

In Canada, he became a familiar face as a regular on the series Sidestreet (1976-1977), Danger Bay (1985-1990), Street Legal (1991-1992) and Da Vinci's Inquest (1998-2005).

With Robert Mandan (b. 1932) on Soap

In the U.S. he will always be remembered as escaped convict Dutch on Soap (1978-1981). He was adept as comedy, also making a charming appearance on The Golden Girls (1987) as a suitor to Blanche (Rue McClanahan, 1934-2010) with no social graces.

As Agent Smith on The Flash (Image via The CW)

His last major splashes were in sci-fi, as Dr. Sherman Cottle on Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) and as Agent Smith on The Flash (2016) and Legends of Tomorrow (2016), the latter of which became his final performance in any medium.

Rhodes is survived by his wife Sarah and two children.

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