StarTrek.com is saddened to report the passing of veteran character actor Don Keefer, who, according to The Hollywood Reporter, died of natural causes on September 7 at the age of 98. Over the course of his decades-long career, he originated the role of Bernard in the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman and appeared in wide array of films and television shows. His credits included The Caine Mutiny, Hellcats of the Navy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Fugitive, Twilight Zone (3 episodes, including "It's a Good Life"), Mission: Impossible, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Gunsmoke, The Way We Were, Roots: The Next Generation, Creepshow, ER and Liar Liar. Star Trek fans will remember him fondly as Mission Control Director Cromwell in second-season Original Series episode "Assignment: Earth."
Keefer was preceded in death by his wife Catherine McLeod, who passed in 1997, and is survived by their three sons and two grandchildren. StarTrek.com offers our condolences to Keefer's family, friends and fans.
