http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/arts/television/james-stacy-dead.html 2016-09-19 01:48:52 James Stacy, Actor Who Played Gunslinging ‘Lancer,’ Dies at 79 Mr. Stacy played specialized roles after losing an arm and a leg when his motorcycle was struck by a drunken driver. === James Stacy, who played a gunslinging drifter on the television western “Lancer” and, after losing an arm and a leg in a 1973 motorcycle accident, turned in memorable performances in specialized roles, died on Sept. 9 in Ventura, Calif. He was 79. The cause was anaphylactic shock after having received antibiotics, said his fiancée, Antigoni Tsamparlis. Mr. Stacy had been working steadily on television in small roles, beginning in the late 1950s, when The series had its premiere in 1968 — a review in The New York Times called it “big, fast-paced and explosive with action” — and ran until 1971. Mr. Stacy lost his left arm and leg when his motorcycle was struck by a drunken driver in the Hollywood Hills. His passenger, Claire Cox, was killed. He returned to acting two years later, playing a newspaper editor in “Posse,” a role that Kirk Douglas, the film’s star, had ordered for him. In 1977, Mr. Stacy earned an Emmy nomination for his performance as an embittered Vietnam veteran in the television movie “It’s the most literal type of casting, perhaps, but Stacy’s performance is powerfully commanding and straightforward,” the critic Tom Shales wrote in The Washington Post. In 1995, Mr. Stacy was arrested and charged with molesting the 11-year-old daughter of a friend, whom he had invited to his house in Ojai, Calif. Found guilty, he fled to Hawaii and attempted suicide by jumping off the Pali lookout, a clifftop scenic area on Oahu. A ledge 45 feet below the top broke his fall. “I even screwed this up,” he recalled thinking, in an interview with People magazine in 1996. He was returned to California and sentenced to six years in prison, which he served at the California Institution for Men at Chino. His lawyer told the court that Mr. Stacy’s heavy drinking and the psychological effects of his accident accounted for his aberrant behavior. James Stacy was born Maurice William Elias on Dec. 23, 1936, in Los Angeles. His father, Louie, who had been brought to the United States as an infant by his Lebanese parents, made his living as a bookmaker. His mother, Lois, was a waitress. After studying briefly at Glendale Community College in California, Mr. Stacy was drafted by the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. He was cut from the team after two months. He set his sights on acting and, after making a Pepsi-Cola commercial in New York, he returned to Hollywood, where he landed the recurring role of “I had lines like ‘Hey, Rick, want a hamburger?’” he told People. He made a steady living with guest appearances on an assortment of television series, including “The Donna Reed Show,” “Gunsmoke,” “Cheyenne,” “Have Gun — Will Travel” and “Perry Mason.” While filming “Summer Magic” (1963), with Burl Ives and Hayley Mills, in Palm Springs, Calif., Mr. Stacy met and married the actress Connie Stevens, who was there to film “Palm Springs Weekend.” The marriage ended in divorce, as did his second marriage, to the actress Kim Darby, whom he had met on the set of “Gunsmoke.” He is survived by a daughter from his marriage to Ms. Darby, Heather Elias; a sister, Carolyn Elias; and a brother, Louie. In 1980, Mr. Stacy produced and acted in the NBC television movie In 1990, he had a recurring role on the series “Wiseguy.”