Happy 80th Birthday Dack Rambo

Today is the 80th birthday of the actor Dack Rambo. He was in practically every TV show worth being in through the 70s and 80s. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

NAME: Dack Rambo
ORIGINALLY: Norman Rambo
DATE OF BIRTH: 13-Nov-1941
PLACE OF BIRTH: Earlimart, CA
DATE OF DEATH: 21-Mar-1994
PLACE OF DEATH: Los Angeles, CA
CAUSE OF DEATH: AIDS
REMAINS: Buried, North Kern Cemetery, Delano, CA

BEST KOWN FOR: American actor, most notable for appearing as Walter Brennan’s grandson Jeff in the series The Guns of Will Sonnett, as Steve Jacobi in the soap opera All My Children, as cousin Jack Ewing on Dallas, and as Grant Harrison on the soap opera Another World.

Norman Jay Rambo was born in Earlimart, California to William Lester and Beatrice A. Rambo. Dack was a middle child in a family of four. Siblings: William Donald Rambo; identical twin Orman Ray “Dirk” Rambo; and sister Beverly Jean Rambo (b. 1944).

After moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s, the 20-year-old twins were discovered by actress Loretta Young in 1962 and cast in her CBS series The New Loretta Young Show. On February 5, 1967, Dirk Rambo was killed in a road accident at the age of 25.

Later that same year, Dack Rambo landed the role of Jeff Sonnett on The Guns of Will Sonnett and co-starred in the short-lived Gunsmoke spin-off Dirty Sally, with Jeanette Nolan. During the 1970s and 1980s, he made guest appearances on Marcus Welby, M.D., House Calls, Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hotel, and Murder, She Wrote. He played Steve Jacobi on All My Children in the early 1980s. He also acted the lead role in Sword of Justice, which lasted for 10 installments in 1978-79. Rambo may be best remembered on television for playing Jack Ewing in 51 episodes of the soap opera Dallas from 1985 to 1987. Rambo also played Wesley Harper on the 1984 short-lived TV series soap opera Paper Dolls.

While working on Another World, Rambo learned that he was infected with HIV in August 1991. He quit the series shortly thereafter and retired from acting. Rambo then made his HIV infection and his bisexuality public, revealing that he had been in relationships with both men and women since his 20s.

Dack Rambo died on March 21, 1994 at the age of 52 of complications from AIDS.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962–1963	The Loretta Young Show	Peter Massey	26 episodes
1965	Never Too Young	Tim	16 episodes
1967	Iron Horse	Lieutenant Shelby	Episode: “Sister Death” Credited as Norman Rambo
1967–1969	The Guns of Will Sonnett	Jeff Sonnett	50 episodes
1970	Which Way to the Front?	Terry Love
1970–1971	Gunsmoke	Cyrus Pike	3 episodes
1971	The Man and the City	Holland Jr.	Episode: “Disaster on Turner Street”
1971	Cannon	Bryan Gibson	Episode: “Stone, Cold Dead”
1973	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Don	Episode: “Sweet Harvest”
1974	Dirty Sally	Cyrus Pike	13 episodes
1974	Nightmare Honeymoon	David Webb
1974	Hit Lady	Doug Reynolds	TV movie
1975	Marcus Welby, M.D.		Episodes: “Dark Fury” (Parts 1 & 2)
1975	The Rookies	Tommy Locke	Episode: “Angel”
1977	Good Against Evil	Andy Stuart	TV movie
1977	Wonder Woman	Andros	Episodes: ” Mind Stealers from Outer Space” (Parts 1 & 2)
1977	Tabitha	Ted	Episode: “Tabitha’s Triangle”
1978	A Double Life	Jack Cole	TV movie
1978–1979	Sword of Justice	Jack Cole	10 episodes
1978–1986	Fantasy Island	Captain Timothy Black / Carl Wagner / Mike O’Brien / Captain Rawlins / Prince Peter d’Anatoli	6 episodes
1979–1986	The Love Boat	Boyd Hughes / Alan Marciano / Peter Welch	3 episodes
1980	Waikiki	Ronnie	Television movie
1980	Charlie’s Angels	Steve	Episode: “Angel in Hiding”
1981	House Calls		Episode: “All About Adam”
1981	Rich and Famous	Kent	Uncredited
1982–1983	All My Children	Steve Jacobi	7 episodes
1983–1987	Hotel	Various	3 episodes
1984	The Mississippi		Episode: “Wheels of Justice”
1984	No Man’s Land	Connell	TV movie
1984	Paper Dolls	Wesley Harper	13 episodes
1984–1990	Murder, She Wrote	Various	3 episodes
1985–1987	Dallas	Jack Ewing	51 episodes
1987	Shades of Love: Lilac Dream	Matt	Direct-to-video release
1988	Lonely Knights	Brad Moore	TV movie
1988	Hunter	Deputy D.A. Jason Leffler	Episode: “Presumed Guilty”
1989	The Spring	Andy
1989	Highway to Heaven	Larry Nichols	Episode: “The Source”
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Arnold	Alternative title: “Fixer Upper”
1990	Ultra Warrior	Kenner	Alternative title: Welcome to Oblivion
1990	River of Diamonds	John Tregard
1990–1991	Another World	Grant Harrison	14 episodes, (final appearance)