Lee Bergere (April 10, 1918 - January 31, 2007)

For me he will always be Joseph Aynders the suave but snobbish majordomo on "Dynasty." He played the role from the show's beginning in 1981 until the opening of the fourth season in 1983. It began in 1936 on Broadway when he was an understudy for Danny Kaye in the production Lady in the Dark. He remained active on Broadway until the 1960's... He quickly jumped on the television bandwagon and became a very successful character actor. His acting credits include "Studio One", "Mannix", "The F.B.I." and "All in the Family" just to name a few. As Joseph Aynders on "Dynasty" he was a friend to his employer Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) but not so much of a fan of Blake's much younger second wife Krystle (Linda Evans). In the opening episode of season 2 in November of 1981 Joseph makes it very clear that he considers her to be an outsider. Joseph also had a combative relationship with Blake's ex-wife Alexis (Joan Collins) who finally drove the man over the edge when she threatened to reveal to his young daughter Kirby (Kathleen Bellar) that her mother was in an asylum. Joseph set fire to the cabin Alexis was staying in hoping to silence her forever but she survived. Consumed with guilt Joseph finally takes his own life. The character's memory lived on until Kirby left the show in 1984 and then he was mentioned again during the 1987-1988 season when his long lost son Sean arrived determined to avenge his father. In 1987 he guest starred as despicable modeling agent in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote." His dreadful behavior finds him on the receiving end of a murderer's rage. The actor made is final acting appearance in 1989 on the soap opera "Falcon Crest." His character, Mayor Justin Nash, was an old friend of Angela Channing's (Jane Wyman) and they plotted to fix his daughter up with her grandson. It was Angela's way of keeping her grandson from marrying the daughter of one of her vineyard workers whom she considered to be beneath the family. Her plan failed however. That same year he also appeared in the film Time Trackers. Other television credits include: "Robert Montgomery Presents" "The United States Steel Hour" "The Dick Van Dyke Show" "Bonanza" "Wagon Train" "McHale's Navy" "The Munsters" "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" "Perry Mason" "The Addams Family" "My Favorite Martian" "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." "Burke's Law" "Get Smart" "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" "The Wild Wild West" "Death Valley Days" "Star Trek" (as President Abraham Lincoln) "Mission: Impossible" "Hogan's Heroes" "The Doris Day Show" "Emergency!" "Maude" "The Tony Randall Show" "Wonder Woman" "Soap" "WKRP in Cincinnati" "The Love Boat" "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" In Memoriam Remembers: Lee Bergere