Introduction
Sidney Clute (21 April 1916 – 2 October 1985) was an American film and television character actor known for his roles in The Big Fix (1978) and TV series such as Cagney & Lacey (1082-1988), McCloud (1972-1977), and My Three Sons (1962-1970).
Life and career
Sidney Clute was born Sidney Richard Clute on 21 April 1916 in Brooklyn, New York.
He began his career on stage (Summer Stock Productions) and made his screen debut after the Second World War in 1946 with a minor supporting role as a drugstore clerk in William Wyler's seven-Oscar winning war drama The Best Years of Our Lives, starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, and Dana Andrews.
In the early 1950s, he moved to Hollywood and was seen in uncredited roles in Arnold Laven-directed drama Without Warning! (1952) and Budd Boetticher's war drama Red Ball Express. (1952). The following year saw his television debut in "Czar of the Underworld" episode of the TV series Adventures of Superman.
It was his career on television that was more prolific, presenting him in a variety of characters such as Sergeant Gerke in four episodes of the Steve Canyon (1958-1959), Winston Talbot in Dragnet (1956-1959), as doctor Bernstein in two episodes of Mannix (1968), as Pasco/Otto Schmidt/Homer in Daniel Boone (1969-1970), as detective Simms in 10 episodes of Herman Miller's McCloud (1972-1977), as Inspector DeCarlo in The Amazing Spider-Man (1978), as a national editor in 13 episodes of Lou Grant (1978-1981), and as detective Paul La Guardia in 68 episodes of Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday's Cagney & Lacey (1982-1988).
From the 1950s to the 1980s, Clute continued to pull in numerous appearances in dozens of television series as a guest star or minor character, sometimes with different roles in more than one episode, such as in 3 episodes of The Loretta Young Show (1958-1959), two episodes of The Millionaire (1957-1959), four episodes of Whirlybirds (1957-1959), two episodes of 87th Precinct (1961-1962), four episodes of Wagon Train (1963-1964), three episodes of Perry Mason (1958-1965), three episodes of Slattery's People (1964-1965), three episodes of Ben Casey (1962-1965), four episodes of Bewitched (1966-1971), and four episodes of Cannon (1972-1975).
Clute's last film credit was in a minor role of a ticket clerk in Jeremy Kagan's crime/comedy drama The Sting II, starring Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, and Teri Garr.
His last television appearance was in the TV series Cagney & Lacey, in which he was seen in 68 episodes. He died at the start of the series' fourth season, but his name remained on the opening credits of every episode until the end of the series in 1988.
Death
Clute died of cancer on 2 October 1985, in St. John's Hospital in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 69. He was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.