R. G. Armstrong Jr., a character actor known for playing sheriffs, outlaws and other macho roles, died on Friday at his home in Studio City. He was 95. His death was confirmed by his daughter Robbie Armstrong-Dunham.Born Robert Golden Armstrong Jr. in Birmingham, Ala, he graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and moved to New York to attend Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio in the mid-1950s. That led him to parts in Elia Kazan’s original production of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in 1955 and in other Broadway shows like “Orpheus Descending” and “The Miracle Worker.”
Armstrong’s five-decade career took off with guest spots on virtually all the popular Western television shows of the 1950s and ’60s, including HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL and GUNSMOKE.
In 1982 he guest starred in DYNASTY as Alfred Grimes, Little Blake's kidnapper.
Besides his daughter Robbie, Mr. Armstrong, who was married three times, is survived by two other daughters from his first marriage, Laurie Nell and Daryl Armstrong; a son, Wynn; a daughter from an earlier relationship, Betty; and five grandchildren.
Watch a clip of Armstrong in DYNASTY below:
I remember him from Dynasty, but I most recall him as Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th: The Series, my favorite show. He was a great character actor, in so many westerns! He will be missed.
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