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Character actor Gage Clarke came to television (and then movies) after spending considerable time on-stage during the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to anthology series including Lux Video Theatre and Kraft Theatre, his list of small-screen credits included roles on Mr. Peepers and appearances in multiple episodes of Maverick and Gunsmoke (where he had the recurring role of Mr. Botkin). With his heavyset build, graying hair, and dignified bearing and diction, he was often cast as judges and clergymen later in his career, including a meaty role in Paul Landres' underrated horror opus The Return of Dracula (1958), in which he played the reverend who helps identify the threat of vampirism that has descended on a small California town. He also cut a memorable dramatic figure in the Twilight Zone episode "One More Pallbearer", as the minister who refuses to be cowed into abandoning his principles by megalomaniac millionaire Joseph Wiseman. Clarke stood in well with the Disney organization, which used him in Pollyanna (1960), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965), the latter released the year after his death. His other feature film work included major roles in Mervyn LeRoy's The Bad Seed (1956) and Robert Wise's I Want to Live.