7-11-2005 Doc Baker on 'Little House' Dies at 77
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Veteran television character actor Kevin Hagen, who left behind a string of Western bad guy roles to become the kindly Dr. Hiram Baker in "Little House on the Prairie," has died. He was 77.
Hagen had guest-starring roles on "Gunsmoke," "Rawhide," and "Cheyenne," and won his first regular role in the 1958 series, "Yancy Derringer," in which he played a city administrator of post-Civil War New Orleans.
Though the show only ran a year, he got more work than ever in series that included "Bonanza," "Perry Mason," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and "Mission: Impossible."
He was best known for his portrayal of Doc Baker in "Little House on the Prairie," which ran from 1974 to 1983.
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Singer Frances Langford Dies at 91
Frances Langford, whose steamy rendition of "I'm in the Mood for Love" captivated soldiers when she was part of Bob Hope's USO tours during World War II, died Monday at the age of 92
Langford, a recording artist, radio star and actress from the 1930s to 1950s, joined Hope's troupe to boost wartime morale at military bases and hospitals in Great Britain, Italy, North Africa and the South Pacific. She also entertained new generations of soldiers in Korea and Vietnam.
Even with her hair swept up in a bandanna, the 5-foot-1 singer was a glamorous vision of home and became known as the "Sweetheart of the Fighting Fronts."
Her trademark was "I'm in the Mood for Love," written for her for the 1935 movie "Every Night at Eight."
Langford appeared in 30 Hollywood movies, including "Broadway Melody," "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "The Hit Parade." She played herself in her final film, 1954's "The Glenn Miller Story."
She was also known for her role as the insufferable wife, Blanche, opposite Don Ameche on the popular 1940s radio comedy "The Bickersons."
Her first marriage was to actor Jon Hall, who appeared in films such as "The Hurricane" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves."
After World War II, she was singing in nightclubs when she met outboard motor heir Ralph Evinrude. They married in 1955 and moved to her 400-acre estate in Jensen Beach, 100 miles north of Miami.
The couple built a Polynesian-themed restaurant and marina on the Indian River called the Outrigger Resort. She entertained locals and celebrities, including Hope, until Evinrude died in 1986
Langford kept up her pastimes of boating and sport fishing and her collection of mounted tuna, marlin and other fish adorns the wall of the Florida Oceanographic Society's visitor center in nearby Stuart that is named after her.
In 1994, she married Harold Stuart, assistant secretary of the Air Force under Harry Truman. They spent summers on Canada's Georgian Island, traveling from Florida aboard her 110-foot yacht.
She is survived by her husband. She had no children.
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