Golden-age Hollywood gunslinger Jack Betts has died at age 96. Betts’ family has confirmed that he died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Los Osos, California, on Thursday. Betts leaves behind a vast legacy of silver-screen appearances, often cropping up as a dashing, debonair gentleman or a rough-and-ready cowboy in spaghetti westerns, superhero flicks, and thrillers. Betts is perhaps best known as the board member who fires Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, spurring him on in his transformation into the villainous Green Goblin, in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man (2002). “You’re out, Norman,” Betts tells Dafoe with a cold sneer. Betts was born in 1929 and made his big-screen debut in The Bloody Brood (1959) alongside Peter Falk. Despite his 108 IMDb credits, Betts never quite reached the heights of fame achieved by co-stars like Clint Eastwood, something he attributed to poor distribution deals. Still, his wit and performances will be remembered fondly by fans and family alike.
Read it at The Hollywood Reporter
Read more at The Daily Beast.
