July 25, 2008
John Phillip Law 1937 ~ 2008
Blind angel in 'Barbarella'
Broke into business in 1960s New York on Broadway shows
LOS ANGELES — John Phillip Law, a tall, blond actor who cut a striking figure as the blind angel opposite Jane Fonda in 1968's "Barbarella," has died. He was 70.
Mr. Law died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home, said his ex-wife, Shawn Ryan. The cause of death was not announced.
Born in Los Angeles to Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff John Law and actress Phyllis Sallee, Mr. Law decided to become an actor after taking drama classes at the University of Hawaii.
He moved to New York in the early 1960s, studied with Elia Kazan at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater and landed bit parts on Broadway. He went to Europe and found work in Italian films, where he caught the attention of Norman Jewison. The director cast Mr. Law as Alexei Kolchin, a young Soviet submariner who wins the heart of a teenage baby-sitter in "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming," Jewison's 1966 Cold War comedy set in New England.
Mr. Law's next break came in Roger Vadim's science-fiction fantasy starring Fonda, who was then married to the director. Equipped with oversize wings, Mr. Law's bronzed angel Pygar shields Fonda's gun-toting, go-go-boot-wearing heroine in her intergalactic adventures.
After gaining notice for his roles in "Hurry Sundown" (1967), "The Sergeant" (1968) and "The Red Baron" (1970), Mr. Law starred as the ruthless Robin Stone in "The Love Machine," a 1971 version of Jacqueline Susann's pulp novel. The movie flopped.
Mr. Law, who mastered Italian and Spanish in his European travels, worked steadily in Hollywood and abroad, appearing in such action-adventure movies as "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (1974) and "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1981). He also had a stint playing Jim Grainger on the daytime television drama "The Young and the Restless."
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