THE original Mr. Clean is now surrounded by dirt – for eternity.
House Peters Jr., who played the bald-headed spokesman on the Proctor & Gamble house cleaner from the late 1950s into the early 1960s has died. He was 92.
Peters died Wednesday of pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Los Angeles.
The company eventually replaced Peters with an animated version of his character, but his likeness appears in ads for the product to this day.
While Peters is best known for playing the muscular, bald, hoop-earring wearing hero of housewives, he had a long career as a character actor – mostly in westerns – from 1935 to 1937.
“He always played the heavy,” his son Jon Peters told the AP, referring to his father’s roles as a villain. “Even though he wasn’t happy about being cast in these roles, he worked really hard at it.”
Over the years, Peters appeared on screen with silver screen legends ranging from Gene Autry to Roy Rogers and had guest starring roles on classic television programs like “The Twilight Zone” and “Lassie.”