Janos Prohaska

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Janos Prohaska (October 10, 1919 – March 13, 1974), born in Budapest, Hungary, was an actor and stunt performer on American television from the 1960s until his untimely death. He usually played the roles of animals or monsters.

He is best-remembered for his recurring comic role as "The Cookie Bear" on the The Andy Williams Show from 1969 to 1971. (Ironically, "bear" is often used as a production term for "monster," as well.) Prohaska also appeared more than once in such TV series as The Outer Limits, Lost in Space, and Star Trek, although his turn as the Horta in Star Trek's "The Devil in the Dark" is the best known of these. He made an appearance as himself on an episode of "What's My Line?" in 1969, where he wore a monkey costume that he had made.

He and his son Robert were killed along with 34 others on Wednesday, March 13, 1974 at 8:28 p.m. in the crash of a chartered Sierra Airlines Convair CV-440 aircraft near Bishop, California while filming The Ascent of Man television series. The plane flew into a mountain ridge in darkness, but the exact cause of the crash was never determined.[1]

A background character in Raymond E. Feist's King of Foxes is the minor noble Janos Prohaska, named in honor of the Star Trek actor.

The title character in DC Comics' Blackhawk is named Janos Prohaska