Bernie Casey was born in West Virginia on June 8, 1939. During high school, he excelled in track and field and football, which earned him an athletic scholarship to Bowling Green State University. He played wide receiver in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams for eight seasons before returning to Bowling Green State University for a master's degree in fine arts.
He went on to become a poet, painter, and actor. Starting in 1969, he appeared in approximately 35 films including Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Boxcar Bertha, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Brian's Song, Never Say Never Again, Black Gunn, Revenge of the Nerds, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. His television credits included Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, L.A. Law, and Murder, She Wrote. He died after a brief illness on September 19, 2017 at the age of 78.
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