House Peters Jr., a television actor who became the original Mr. Clean on Proctor & Gamble’s commercials for household cleaners, has died. He was 92.
Peters died Wednesday of pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Los Angeles, said his son Jon Peters.
The elder Peters’ most memorable role came as Mr. Clean – a muscular man with a bald head, a hoop earring and a no-nonsense attitude toward dirt and grime. From the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, Peters Jr. helped advertise the famous household cleaner with the trademark jingle, “Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean.”
Peters Jr. played many supporting roles through his career, including working with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry on their television shows. He also appeared in “Perry Mason,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Lassie.”
“He always played the heavy,” Jon Peters said, referring to his father’s customary roles as a villain or brawny character. “Even though he wasn’t happy about being cast in those roles, he worked really hard at it.”
His acting career spanned 1935-1967, according to his Web site. He also wrote an autobiography, “Another Side of Hollywood,” in which he describes growing up the son of an actress and silent film actor in Beverly Hills. His father, Robert House Peters Sr., has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“To me, he was much, much more than a show business figure,” Peters Jr. wrote of his father.
He described his father as a “big name in Hollywood: a handsome leading man.”
Peters Jr. was never a leading man, but played many parts in cowboy movies and won a Golden Boot Award in 2000 for his lifetime contributions to the western film genre, his son said.
Peters Jr. was born Jan. 12, 1916, in New Rochelle, N.Y., as Robert House Peters Jr. His son said Peters Jr. studied drama in high school and became inspired to pursue an acting career.
After retiring, Peters Jr. enjoyed meeting fans of the western film genre and signing autographs at conventions, his son said.
Peters Jr. is also survived by his wife, Lucy Pickett, a daughter, another son and four grandchildren.
