Actor. A prolific character performer with a vast number of small screen credits, he shall be remembered as forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Asten, Jack Klugman's rather unpleasant boss on the 1976 to 1983 series "Quincy, M.E.". Raised in northern New Jersey, he graduated from Pittsburgh's Carnegie-Mellon University with a major in Shakespeare then studied in London on a Fullbright Scholarship. Upon his return to America he worked making Army training films and performed at Shakespeare Festivals in New York and Connecticut prior to breaking into television on a 1960 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". He was to be kept busy for the next 33 years, and though he was on the big screen a few times in such films as "Earthquake" and "The Parallax View" (both 1974), his main focus was television. Ragin appeared in such fare-of-the-day as "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "The Fugitive", "Gomer Pyle: USMC", "The Invaders", "Felony Squad", "Barnaby Jones", "Ironside", "The Fugitive", "Mission: Impossible", "Get Smart", and "The F.B.I." and had a recurring role on the short-lived "Sons and Daughters" (1974) prior to landing his gig on "Quincy, M.E.". The series proved a major hit, with Ragin's by-the-book Dr. Asten providing counterpoint and a source of frustration for Klugman's maverick Dr. Quincy, though the intensity of their screen battles moderated with time. After the show closed in 1983 Ragin continued working, his appearances including "Emerald Point N.A.S." and "Murder, She Wrote". He earned his final credit on a 1993 episode of "Star Trek": The Next Generation" and lived out his days in Southern California. At his death he continued to be seen on a steady stream of reruns.
Actor. A prolific character performer with a vast number of small screen credits, he shall be remembered as forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Asten, Jack Klugman's rather unpleasant boss on the 1976 to 1983 series "Quincy, M.E.". Raised in northern New Jersey, he graduated from Pittsburgh's Carnegie-Mellon University with a major in Shakespeare then studied in London on a Fullbright Scholarship. Upon his return to America he worked making Army training films and performed at Shakespeare Festivals in New York and Connecticut prior to breaking into television on a 1960 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". He was to be kept busy for the next 33 years, and though he was on the big screen a few times in such films as "Earthquake" and "The Parallax View" (both 1974), his main focus was television. Ragin appeared in such fare-of-the-day as "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "The Fugitive", "Gomer Pyle: USMC", "The Invaders", "Felony Squad", "Barnaby Jones", "Ironside", "The Fugitive", "Mission: Impossible", "Get Smart", and "The F.B.I." and had a recurring role on the short-lived "Sons and Daughters" (1974) prior to landing his gig on "Quincy, M.E.". The series proved a major hit, with Ragin's by-the-book Dr. Asten providing counterpoint and a source of frustration for Klugman's maverick Dr. Quincy, though the intensity of their screen battles moderated with time. After the show closed in 1983 Ragin continued working, his appearances including "Emerald Point N.A.S." and "Murder, She Wrote". He earned his final credit on a 1993 episode of "Star Trek": The Next Generation" and lived out his days in Southern California. At his death he continued to be seen on a steady stream of reruns.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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