Earl Holliman, Star of ‘Forbidden Planet’ and ‘The Rainmaker,’ Dies at 96

Earl Holliman, the Golden Globe-winning star of “The Rainmaker,” has died at the age of 96, according to media reports.

Holliman starred in the 1956 adaptation of the N. Richard Nash play about a spinsterish woman named Lizzie Curry, played by Katharine Hepburn, who falls in love with a con man played by Burt Lancaster who promises to bring rain to her family’s drought-stricken farm. Holliman played Jim, one of Lizzie’s brothers.

That same year, Holliman also appeared in “Forbidden Planet,” one of the earliest sci-fi film classics. Holliman, who was the last living member of the film’s cast, played the cook on the starship C-57D who humorously bonds with robot Robby when he asks the android where he can find some bourbon.

Holliman’s other big claim to fame is his starring role in “Where Is Everybody?” the very first episode of the legendary sci-fi TV series, “The Twilight Zone.” In it, he plays a man with amnesia who finds himself in a completely deserted town, with the explanation for his mysterious circumstances being the first example of the big rug-pull twists that Rod Serling’s show would become famous for.

The same night that “Twilight Zone” premiered, Holliman also appeared on CBS in “Hotel de Paree,” a short-lived Western that gave the actor his first lead TV role. In it, he played Sundance, a man who, after serving a lengthy prison sentence, returns to the Colorado town where he accidentally killed a man. After shooting the local scoundrel, he is urged by the townsfolk to become their new marshal.

The actor continued to star in film and television series into the ’90s, with prominent roles including the NBC police drama “Police Woman” opposite Angie Dickinson from 1974-78. He was also known for his appearances on game shows such as “Hollywood Squares” and “The $100,000 Pyramid.”

Off the set, Holliman was a devoted animal rights activist and for 25 years was the volunteer president of Actors and Others for Animals, an organization that helped financially vulnerable residents of Los Angeles take care of their pets. He was a longtime resident of Studio City, where he died in hospice care.

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