Ken Drake(1921-1987)

Ken Drake was born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1921. He served in the Navy in World War 2 and Korea as a Medic. He studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and met his wife Sylvie there. He appeared in over 60 television shows and was a gifted character actor who often disappeared into multiple roles in the same TV series. Beginning with "Sea Hunt" he played character of vastly different types even within the same season. His great-grandmother was a Native American of the Choctaw Nation and he portrayed some Native American characters in Westerns of the era such as "Bonanza". He also performed the classics on stage. Iago in Shakespeare's "Othello" and Jason in "Medea" were two of his favorite roles as well as performing in a number of George Bernard Shaw's plays at the Stage Society Theater in Los Angeles in the 50's. His ex-wife, Sylvie Drake was a theater critic for the Los Angeles Times for over 2 decades. His son, Robert Drake is Producing Director of the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, and his daughter, Jessica Drake is a speech and dialect coach working in feature films and Television. Ken passed away in 1987 at the age of 65.