Veteran character actor Ed Lauter, whose long, angular face and stern bearing made him an instantly recognizable figure in scores of movies and TV shows during a career that stretched across five decades, died Wednesday. He was 74. Lauter died of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer most commonly caused by asbestos exposure, said his publicist, Edward Lozzi. Whether he was an irascible authority figure, a brutal thug or a conniving con man, Lauter's presence made him all but impossible to miss in any film he was in. That was so even on those occasions when he was playing a character more bumbling than menacing, although menacing was clearly his forte. He was the brutal prison guard who was Burt Reynolds' nemesis in the 1974 comedy-drama The Longest Yard and the sleazy gas station attendant in Alfred Hitchcock's last film,The Family Plot. Read more http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/10/16/veteran-character-actor-ed-lauter-dies/2997877/
