LOS ANGELES, Sept 1 — Richard Anderson, the actor best known for playing Oscar Goldman in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman, died yesterday aged 91.

Anderson, who was born in New Jersey, passed away at his home in Beverly Hills, according to his spokesman Jonathan Taylor. His character Oscar Goldman ran a secret government spy agency in both shows, which ran simultaneously in the 1970s.

The Six Million Dollar Man starred Lee Majors as Steve Austin, an astronaut seriously injured in a crash. During each opening sequence, Goldman would intone: "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man.”

With his fatherly demeanour, Anderson also took a number of small roles in several major series from the 1960s to the 1980s including Perry Mason, Murder, She Wrote, Dynasty, The Love Boat, and The Fugitive. — AFP