who by now was directing episodic television in Hollywood. Altman told Ladesich about an episode of a TV series he was currently directing, titled Bonanza, that he needed an actor for to play a bartender. Ladesich spent one day on the set, playing "Joe the Bartender," and scored his first screen credit. In 1966 director Richard Brooks planned to shoot his film In Cold Blood in and around Kansas City, and endeavored to use local talent for many of the smaller roles. Ladesich was among the local actors enlisted, portraying a sheriff. In the late 1960s the Resident Theater closed down and soon professional theater was established for the first time in Kansas City, via the Missouri Repertory Theater. Ladesich was a regular there throughout the 1970s and 1980s and was well-known to Kansas City theatergoers during that time as a versatile character actor who could "do everything from Shakespeare to light comedy." He also, by this time, had been promoted to a vice-president and board member of a Kansas City ad agency and retired early in the 1980s. He spent his "retirement" years primarily in California, scoring small roles in various feature films and television shows. He appeared in episodes of Falcon Crest, The Twilight Zone, Knots Landing, and Punky Brewster, played Dr. Holmes in the 1985 film Stand Alone, and played one half of the third "documentary couple" in When Harry Met Sally... from 1989. By 1990, Ladesich had returned to Kansas City and played a judge in the film Mr. and Mrs. Bridge which was shot there that year. Soon after, he began to suffer from severe heart trouble and then officially "retired." He died in March 1995 of heart failure at his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Al having been a lifelong bachelor, the only remaining Ladesich relative was Al's older brother, who died three years later. Al Christy was interred at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. Partial filmography In Cold Blood (1967) - Sheriff Der Preis fürs Überleben (1980) Stand Alone (1985) - Dr. Holmes When Harry Met Sally... (1989) - Documentary Couple #5 Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990) - Judge (final film role) References External links 1918 births 1995 deaths Male actors from Kansas City, Kansas American people of Croatian descent American television producers American military personnel of World War II 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from Kansas