---
name: "Lyle Bettger"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lyle-bettger"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "13 February 1915"
died: "24 September 2003"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T02:23:21.334978+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Lyle Bettger

Actor. Born 13 February 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died 24 September 2003.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 13 February 1915, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- **Died:** 24 September 2003
- **Also known as:** Lyle Stathem Bettger
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Bettger, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2008186, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0079328/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/97657

## Biography

Lyle Stathem Bettger (13 February 1915 – 24 September 2003) was an American character actor. He appeared in Hollywood films and on television from the 1950s, frequently cast as villains.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of baseball player and author Frank Bettger. Bettger trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and made his Broadway debut in 1936. His film career began with a lead role in the film noir *No Man of Her Own* (1950). He became known for Westerns including *Denver and Rio Grande* (1952), *The Great Sioux Uprising* (1953), *Drums Across the River* (1954), *The Lone Ranger* (1956) and *Gunfight at the O.K. Corral* (1957).

Bettger is particularly recognised for his role as the jealous elephant handler Klaus in Cecil B. DeMille’s *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952). He also appeared in numerous television series such as *Hawaii Five-O*, *Gunsmoke* and *Combat!*, and retired in the late 1970s.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952), Fi1m 56, as Klaus — [page](https://film.one/film/the-greatest-show-on-earth.md)

## Complete filmography (54)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *La Classe américaine* (1993), as Famous Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *M Station: Hawaii* (1980), as Adm. Lincoln
- *Police Story* (1973), series, Actor
- *The Hawaiians* (1970), as Janders
- *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Otis Klepper, Dr. Sartain, Jonathan Kaye, Malcolm Rhodes, Dr. Fleming, General Dexter, Karl Norton, Joe Fletcher
- *Impasse* (1969), as Hansen
- *Mannix* (1967), series, Actor
- *Cimarron Strip* (1967), series, Actor
- *The Fastest Guitar Alive* (1967), as Charlie
- *Return of the Gunfighter* (1967), as Clay Sutton
- *The Time Tunnel* (1966), series, as Maj. Hoffman
- *Nevada Smith* (1966), as Jack Rudabough
- *Johnny Reno* (1966), as Jess Yates
- *Blue Light* (1966), series, Actor
- *Town Tamer* (1965), as Lee Ring
- *Daniel Boone* (1964), series, as Lehman Henderson, Joseph Montgomery
- *Kraft Suspense Theatre* (1963), series, as Ted Johnson
- *Mr. Novak* (1963), series, as Brigham
- *Burke's Law* (1963), series, as Captain Donahue
- *Grindl* (1963), series, Actor
- *Combat!* (1962), series, as Capt. Brauer
- *The Tall Man* (1960), series, Actor
- *Guns of the Timberland* (1960), as Clay Bell
- *Law of the Plainsman* (1959), series, as Sheriff Max Chaffee
- *The DuPont Show with June Allyson* (1959), series, as Phil Ross
- *Laramie* (1959), series, as Calvin Hawks
- *The Deputy* (1959), series, as Aces Thompson
- *Rawhide* (1959), series, as Major Victor Darius, Dan Madox, Richard Whiting
- *Gundown at Sandoval* (1959), as Al Barko
- *The Rifleman* (1958), series, Actor
- *The Court of Last Resort* (1957), series, as Sam Larsen
- *Gunfight at the O.K. Corral* (1957), as Ike Clanton
- *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Griff Evans, U.S. Marshal John Welker
- *Showdown at Abilene* (1956), as Dave Mosely
- *The Lone Ranger* (1956), as Reece Kilgore
- *The 20th Century Fox Hour* (1955), series, Actor
- *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Polk
- *The Sea Chase* (1955), as Chief Officer Kirchner
- *Destry* (1954), as Phil Decker
- *Drums Across the River* (1954), as Frank Walker
- *Carnival Story* (1954), as Frank Colloni
- *Forbidden* (1953), as Justin Keit
- *The Great Sioux Uprising* (1953), as Stephen Cook
- *All I Desire* (1953), as Dutch Heineman
- *The Vanquished* (1953), as Roger Hale
- *Hurricane Smith* (1952), as Clobb
- *Denver and Rio Grande* (1952), as Johnny Buff
- *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952), as Klaus — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/the-greatest-show-on-earth.md)
- *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Sheriff Matt Saver
- *Dear Brat* (1951), as Baxter
- *The First Legion* (1951), as Dr. Peter Morrell
- *Union Station* (1950), as Joe Beacom
- *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as Joe
- *No Man of Her Own* (1950), as Stephen Morley

## Gallery

- ![Lyle Bettger](https://film.one/media/person/1237204/gallery-9111e8194490.jpg) Lyle Bettger — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Lyle_Bettger_1957.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Lyle Bettger](https://film.one/media/person/1237204/gallery-1acbd41f5758.jpg) Lyle Bettger — Image via TMDB

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/lyle-bettger