Hollywood veteran Ted Hartley, the actor, producer and former chairman and CEO of RKO Pictures, has died at the age of 100. His extraordinary career stretched from roles in High Plains Drifter and TV classic Peyton Place to a powerful second act as a two-time Tony-nominated producer. A longtime resident of the Hamptons, Hartley passed away on 10 October in New York City. HHis influence in Hollywood deepened in 1991 when he and his late wife, actress Dina Merrill, took control of the remnants of RKO.

Their company, Pavilion Communications, purchased 51 percent of the storied studio once owned by Howard Hughes and responsible for classics like King Kong and Citizen Kane. Under his leadership, Hartley helped revive the RKO brand and produced a string of titles, including Disney’s 1998 remake of Mighty Joe Young starring Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron, and A&E’s 2002 version of The Magnificent Ambersons.

His work on stage was just as ambitious, earning him Tony nominations in 2007 and 2008 for the hit musical comedy Curtains, which ran for more than 500 performances on Broadway, and a major revival of Gypsy fronted by Patti LuPone.

Other stage credits included Never Gonna Dance and Doctor Zhivago. Acting remained a defining thread throughout his early life. His standout screen role saw him playing hotelier Lewis Belding opposite Verna Bloom in Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter (1973).

Reflecting on his craft, Hartley once admitted to The Star: “I was self-conscious as an actor, but fortunately I was given parts where self-consciousness was part of the role, and I got away with it.

“I wanted to be a member at The Actors Studio, and I just didn’t quite get there. Even though Lee Strasberg said wonderful things about me occasionally, I always had that feeling that he wanted me to be a little more authentic.”

Born on 6 November 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised on a farm in Iowa, Hartley’s path to Hollywood was far from conventional.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he served as a White House aide under President Eisenhower and went on to pilot jet fighters.

His military career ended following a carrier-landing accident in 1964, prompting him to attend Harvard Business School and later work for First Western Financial Corp. before being dismissed.

He shifted to acting soon after, landing the role of Rev. Bedford in Peyton Place during the show’s second season from 1965-66.

More screen credits followed, including appearances in Walk Don’t Run (1966), Murderers’ Row (1966), Barefoot in the Park (1967) and Ice Station Zebra (1968).

Hartley and Merrill married in 1989 soon after her divorce from actor Cliff Robertson, becoming one of Hollywood’s most admired couples until her death in 2017.

Away from the screen, he was known for his long-standing membership at the Metropolitan Club in Washington and his ties to the New York Yacht Club, River Club, Chevy Chase Club and Bel-Air Country Club.

He is survived by his son, Philippe.