The actor who portrayed "Cloud William," the leader of the Yangs in "The Omega Glory," is remembered for his various careers as a professional football player, stuntman and actor. Roy Jenson died April 24 of cancer in Los Angeles, at age 80.

Jenson's guttural utterance of "Freedom?" was a memorable moment in an episode that is otherwise often maligned. (See the "Freedom!" video at left.)

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jenson moved to Los Angeles with his family as a child. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he played football for UCLA and then went back to Canada as a professional player for the Calgary Stampeders and other teams. During this time he was utilized as a stunt double in 1954 for "River of No Return" starring Robert Mitchum. Afterwards he moved back to Hollywood to do more stunt work, and eventually starting taking on bit roles.

He is familiar to TV and movie audiences throughout the '60s and '70s mostly as a heavy in westerns and crime dramas. He was Roman Polanski's henchman in the famous knife-to-the-nose sequence with Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown." On TV he had recurring roles on Mannix, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone and Batman, and he made appearances in Mission: Impossible, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild Wild West, The Fugitive, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, The Big Valley, Bonanza and a slew of others. Another claim to fame was that he was the first man to get beat up by Caine in Kung Fu.

Jenson is survived by his wife, actress Marina Petrova, a brother, three sons and several granchildren.