Kevin Hagen

Infobox actor
bgcolour = Bronze
name = Kevin Hagen


imagesize = 80 x 80
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birthdate = birth date|1928|4|3
birthplace = flagicon|USA Chicago, Illinois, USA
deathdate = death date and age|2005|7|9|1928|4|3
deathplace = flagicon|USA Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
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othername =
occupation = Actor
yearsactive = 1959-2004
spouse =
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Kevin Hagen (April 3, 1928, Chicago, Illinois – July 9, 2005) was an American actor.

Born to professional ballroom dancers, Hagen was raised by his mother, grandmother, and aunts. He worked for the US State Department in West Germany (now a part of Germany), and spent a year in law school at UCLA after attending Oregon State University and the University of Southern California before deciding to try acting at the age of 27. He was spotted in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms" and given a guest role on the classic 1950s series "Dragnet". He began to work steadily in television and film.

His first regular role on a series was 1958's popular cult western "Yancy Derringer" as city administrator of New Orleans, John Colton, circa 1868. As Colton, at the beginning of the episode, he asks Yancy to solve New Orleans present threat, and at the end of the episode arrests Yancy for breaking the law to do it.

Hagen also worked steady as guest roles on countless series ("Bat Masterson", "Wagon Train", "The Twilight Zone", "Have Gun Will Travel", "Gunsmoke", "Rawhide", "The Rifleman", "Bonanza", "The Time Tunnel", "Perry Mason", "Land of the Giants", "Knots Landing", to name a few), often as the bully you love to see 'getting his come-uppance'.

But he considered his big break the role of a Confederate soldier who kills James Stewart's son, and daughter-in-law in the 1965 film "Shenandoah".

His most famous role was one of his nicer ones, as kindly Doc Baker on "Little House on the Prairie". He played the part from 1974-1983 and in a one-man show, "A Playful Dose of Prairie Wisdom".

In 1992, he moved to Grants Pass, Oregon and continued his acting career. In 2004 he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In the last year of his life, Hagen went to the "National Enquirer" to claim that "Little House on the Prairie" creator and star Michael Landon had not given the cast their fair share of money on residuals. In a follow up interview, Hagen thanked fans for their support and said some co-stars had contacted him to tell him they also felt they had been cheated out of money.

He was once married to actress Susanne Cramer until her death in 1969.

At his death, Hagen left a widow, Jan (his fourth wife; he met her in 1993), and a son, Kristopher.

External links

*imdb name|id=0353419|name=Kevin Hagen
* [http://www.series-80.net/us/actor/biography/kevin-hagen.html Series-80] - Biography
* [http://www.tvland.com/shows/littleHouse/actor10.jhtml TV Land] - Little House on the Prairie