In another era, American actor Eugene Roche might have been a perfect next-door neighbor on Ozzie and Harriet; balding, slightly paunchy, with an open, jovial Midwestern face. Following theatrical work, Roche made a name for himself in a project which gave him no on-screen billing: the friendly kitchen employee who sang the brief "Ajax for dishes" ditty in a series of detergent commercials. Roche's breakthrough film was Slaughterhouse Five (1971), in which he played the likeable POW Edgar Derby, whose fascination with war souvenirs results in his perfunctory execution at the hands of his German captors. Not all of Roche's film roles were this benign: in Foul Play (1978), he is a professional assassin who impersonates his murdered archbishop brother, the better to draw a bead on the Pope during an American visit. A reassuringly familiar presence on TV, Eugene Roche also had regular roles on several series, including The Corner Bar (1972), Good Time Harry (1980), Webster (1984), Take Five (1987) and Lenny (1990).
by Hal Erickson
biography
