Who played Inspector Lewis Erskine in the U.S. TV police drama series "The F.B.I." (1965-1974)?

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was the actor who played Inspector Lewis Erskine in the U.S. TV police drama series "The F.B.I." (1965-1974). He was a hard working, dedicated by the book member of J. Edgar Hoover's finest. Erskine and his partner (Jim Rhodes played by Stephen Brooks) would travel the country and solve cases. Later Erskine worked with Tom Colby (William Reynolds) and lastly with Chris Daniels (Shelly Novack). The series that was based on true FBI cases that got the support from famed FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. was born in November 1918 in New York, NY. As a child, he attended Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Next he boarded at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, taking part in school plays. For higher learning, he briefly went to Yale University, but he was expelled. He then joined the US military and after his service in World War II (he was awarded the Purple Heart), he entered into acting.

Zimbalist had his first taste of television in a role on the daytime soap opera "Concerning Miss Marlowe" from 1954-55. After appearing in several TV plays, he got a guest appearance on "The Phil Silvers Show". He next became part of his first succesful TV series, "77 Sunset Strip". He also made guest appearances on other popular TV shows; i.e., "Maverick", "Sugarfoot" and "Hawaiian Eye". After "77 Sunset Strip" ended, Efrem got the role on "The F.B.I.", which ran of 9 years.

Zimbalist died at 95 in May 2014 in Solvang, CA, USA.