Veteran Actor and Comedian Orson Bean Struck and Killed by a Car in Los Angeles

Orson Bean, the actor and comedian, was struck and killed by a car in Los Angeles on Friday night. He was 91.

According to Los Angeles Police Capt. Brian Wendling, Bean had been walking in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles and was clipped by a vehicle, causing him to fall. Then, a second driver struck him again, which was the cause of his death. Both drivers remained on the scene. Police were investigating and didn’t identify the pedestrian to local outlets, which named Bean based on eyewitness accounts.

Born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1928, Bean is remembered for his long-running stint on a panelist on game show “To Tell the Truth” and as the crochety merchant on CBS western drama “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” But he also had regular roles on Fox sitcom “Normal, Ohio” and ABC’s Desperate Housewives,” and he appeared in a number of films — notably “Being John Malkovich” and “Anatomy of a Murder.” He also received a Tony Award nomination for 1962 musical “Subways Are For Sleeping;” and was a guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” more than 200 times

More recently, income from “Dr. Quinn” and other voice and acting work allowed Bean to finance the Pacific Resident Theater Ensemble in Venice, where he appeared with his third wife, actress Alley Mills.

He had a daughter, Michele, from his first marriage to Jacqueline de Sibour, and sons Max and Ezekiel and daughter Susannah from his marriage to Carolyn Maxwell.