Donnelly Rhodes, the veteran actor who became famous for his portrayal of the stuffy Doctor Cottle on the Battlestar Galactica reboot, died on Jan. 8 at the age of 80. A spokesperson informed that the actor passed away after losing a battle against cancer at Baillie House Hospice in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
Rhodes was a native of Winnipeg, and he started acting back in the mid – the 1950s. He did guest appearances on iconic TV shows such as Maverick, Cheyenne, Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Wild Wild West and Mission: Impossible. He also did leading roles on Soap and on a Canadian family-adventure series called Danger Bay as well as the drama series Da Vinci’s Inquest.
Between 2004-2009 Rhodes repeatedly appeared on Syfy’s reboot of Battlestar Galactica where he played Sherman Cottle, the space fleet’s irritable, cigarette-smoking chief doctor.
He had also done guest-performance as Milash on Smallville. It was the role of an antique seller whom Lex Luthor had hired to evaluate a cryptograph, and he was recently seen on The Flash as well as DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as Agent Smith, an NSA agent who monitored contact with the alien Dominators in the “Invasion!” crossover.
Donelly did very few movie roles despite being in the acting business for six decades. His noticeable performances came in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Tron: Legacy.
The late actor is survived by his wife Sarah and two children.
