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US TV Sitcom Star Ken Berry Dies at 85


FILE - Ken Berry plays Captain Wilton Parmenter in the F Troop TV series, in one of the show's episodes, July 1, 1965.
FILE - Ken Berry plays Captain Wilton Parmenter in the F Troop TV series, in one of the show's episodes, July 1, 1965.

Dancer and comic actor Ken Berry, who starred in two iconic U.S. television series, has died at 85.

No cause of death was immediately announced.

Berry was a stage and Broadway performer known for his athletic dance routines when he turned to comedy in the 1960s.

He is best known as the clumsy Captain Wilton Permenter in F Troop, a slapstick situation comedy about a remote U.S. Army post in the 1860s, surrounded by wilderness and Indians who were shown to be much more clever than the soldiers. F Troop ran from 1965 until 1967 and has a cult following.

Berry also starred in the 1968-1971 series Mayberry R.F.D. where he played a slightly bumbling small-town politician.

Both series are still shown in reruns.

Berry continued working on stage and television until he retired from performing in 2006.

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