Career
Bergere was known for his haughty and superior characters, a typecasting that culminated in his selection as the majordomo Joseph on the hugely popular prime-time soap opera. He appeared regularly only during the first three seasons of Dynasty (returning briefly in the fourth to be "killed off"), but his role grew beyond opening doors and announcing guests to encompass storylines that included the introduction of a daughter and his own character"s suicide after setting a cliff-hanging fire. Another of Bergere"s legacies is his role as one of television"s best-remembered Abraham Lincoln, on the Star Trek episode "The Savage Curtain".
Other parts included comedic guest-star roles on The Munsters "All in the Family"WKRP in Cincinnati (in a pig costume), and a starring role on the short-lived series Hot L Baltimore, on which he played one of television"s first gay regular characters.
The actor began his career in 1936 as Danny Kaye"s understudy in the Broadway production of Lady in the Dark. He debuted on television on an episode of the live series Studio One with James Dean.
A veteran of World World War II, Bergere supervised entertainment services for soldiers stationed in North Africa. Bergere made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, two in 1963.
In "The Case of the Witless Witness" he portrayed James Wall, a Congressional committee examiner.
Bergere played German Count Von Sichel on Hogan"s Heroes in the 1966 episode "The Prince From the Phone Company."
Bergere appeared as the Duke, with Richard Kiley reprising his role as Don Quixote, when the Broadway hit Manitoba of Louisiana Mancha premiered in Los Angeles in 1967. Through the years, Bergere also played Quixote as well as other characters in the show in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New New York Bergere died, aged 88, from undisclosed causes in Fremont, New Hampshire, where he had taken up residence some years prior, having left the acting profession in 1989.
His last role was a recurring part on three episodes of Falcon Crest, another popular 1980s night-time soap.