Jason Evers

Evers was born either as Herbert Everberg or Herbert Everin{{Cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/person/herbert-everin-vault-0000036469|title=Herbert Everin}} in New York City; he attended DeWitt Clinton High School there.{{cite news|title=Jason Evers Was Veteran Actor at 17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15226203/jason_evers/|work=Lake Charles American-Press|date=July 15, 1960|location=Louisiana, Lake Charles|page=12|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = November 18, 2017}} {{Open access}} His parents' names are recorded {{Where|date=July 2023}} as William Everin (1894–1972) and Hilda (Weiserbs) Everin (1902–1995) and he had a younger sister, Lucille (1929–2015).

After leaving high school early to join the United States Army,[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-27-me-passings27-story.html Jason Evers, 83; Actor Known for 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die'], Los Angeles Times; accessed January 16, 2016.An article published in the July 15, 1960, issue of the Lake Charles American Press says, "Jason Evers left school ... preferring to give himself more time to see acting ..." It goes on to say that he joined the U.S. Army after acting in a Broadway production. Evers was so inspired by stars such as John Wayne (with whom he would later appear in The Green Berets) that he decided to try acting.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/58856%7C79762/Jason-Evers/ |title=Overview for Jason Evers |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=March 1, 2018}}

Roles on Broadway led to Hollywood, where his first recurring role was on the 1960 NBC Western television series Wrangler.{{r|etvs|page1=1198}} On June 30, 1960, Evers appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.{{cite web|url=http://ctva.biz/US/MusicVariety/TennesseeErnieFordShow.htm|title=The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show|publisher=ctva.biz|access-date=November 25, 2010}} He was cast for an episode of the ABC western series The Rebel ("Miz Purdy", 1961), appearing as George Tess. Evers made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Stuart Benton in "The Case of the Difficult Detour" (1961), and defendant Roy Galen in "The Case of the Latent Lover" (1964). In "The Case of the Posthumous Painter" (also 1961), he played the defendant's brother.{{cite book |last=Lentz III |first=Harris M. |date=2008 |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2005: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nvGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=115 |isbn=978-0-7864-2489-4}}{{Better source needed|reason=Lentz uses user-generated content as a source.|date=June 2025}}

In the 1963–64 season, Evers starred as 41-year-old Professor Jason Howe in the 26-episode ABC drama series Channing, based on life on a college campus.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=176|edition=2nd}} His most enduring role derived from the 1959 B-movie classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which was not released until 1962.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/151934 |title=The Brain That Wouldn't Die |last=Thompson |first=Nathaniel |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=March 1, 2018}}{{cite book |last=Packer |first=Sharon |date=2014 |title=Neuroscience in Science Fiction Films |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0786472340 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=17 |isbn=978-0-7864-7234-5}}

From 1967 to 1969, he appeared sporadically as James Sonnett, the missing son sought by the Walter Brennan character, Will Sonnett, in ABC's The Guns of Will Sonnett.{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|date=2016|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9781476625997|page=231|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Herbert+Evers%22+actor&pg=PA231|access-date=November 19, 2017|language=en}}

Evers and Kathie Browne featured in the 1968 Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Wink of an Eye". That same year, he also appeared in the films The Green Berets, P.J. and A Man Called Gannon, and also appeared in sci-fi films such as The Illustrated Man (1969) and Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).{{Better source needed|reason=Lentz uses user-generated content as a source.|date=June 2025}}

Evers continued to appear in films and television, in such series as The Rockford Files, having guest-starred with Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet episode "Eat, Drink and be Dead" (1966), but they were of an increasingly minor nature. Evers also appeared as a race-car driver and a romantic interest of Doris Martin in The Doris Day Show in 1970. His later films included A Piece of the Action (1977), Claws (1977), and Barracuda (1978). His final film appearance was in 1990 in Basket Case 2.

On December 24, 1953, Evers married actress Shirley Ballard; they divorced in September 1966. In 1974, he married Diana James, and they divorced in May 1975.{{cite book |last1=Aaker |first1=Everett |date=2017 |title=Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltUkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1934 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher= McFarland & Company |pages=160–161|isbn=978-1-4766-6250-3}}

Evers died of heart failure in Los Angeles on March 13, 2005, aged 83.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-27-me-passings27-story.html Jason Evers, 83; Actor Known for 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die'], Los Angeles Times; accessed January 16, 2016.

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{{Portal|Biography|New York City|Los Angeles|California|Theatre|Film|Television}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0263648}}
• {{IBDB name|39849}} (as Herbert Evers)

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• [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=10653275&PIpi=132406505 Jason Evers] at Find A Grave

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Category:1922 births

Category:2005 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

Category:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:United States Army soldiers