James Stacy
Stacy in 1968
Born	Maurice William Elias (1936-12-23)December 23, 1936 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 9, 2016(2016-09-09) (aged 79) Ventura, California, U.S.
Other names	Jim Stacey Jim Stacy
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–1992
Spouses	Connie Stevens ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1966)​ Kim Darby ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1969)​
Partner	Antigoni Tsamparlis (2000–2016; his death)
Children	1

Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936 – September 9, 2016), known professionally asJames Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV westernLancer.

In 1973, Stacy was hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle, resulting in his left leg being severed. His left arm, nearly severed in the accident, was later amputated in the hospital. His girlfriend died in the crash. He returned to acting in 1975 before retiring in 1992.

Stacy was born Maurice William Elias on December 23, 1936,^[1] in Los Angeles to an Ulster-Scots waitress and a Lebanese Americanbookmaker.^[2]

Stacy made his film debut inSayonara in 1957, and his television debut inHighway Patrol. He had a recurring role as "Fred" inThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1958 to 1963. During the 1960s he made guest appearances in television shows, including 5 episodes ofGunsmoke,Hazel,The Donna Reed Show,Have Gun - Will Travel,Combat!, andPerry Mason in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Simple Simon" and the series finale "The Case of the Final Fade-out" in 1966.

Stacy is perhaps best remembered as a star of thewestern seriesLancer, along withAndrew Duggan,Wayne Maunder, andPaul Brinegar.Lancer aired onCBS from 1968 to 1970. Stacy played the character "Johnny Madrid Lancer", a former gunslinger, the son of Duggan's character, Murdoch Lancer. Stacy also acted in several motion pictures from the 1950s through the 1970s, including a minor part in the musicalSouth Pacific.

On September 27, 1973, Stacy was taking his girlfriend, Clara Ann “Paeai-Pai” Cox,^[3][4][5] for a ride on his motorcycle in the Hollywood Hills when a drunken driver struck them. Cox was killed and Stacy lost his left arm and leg. Stacy's ex-wife, actress and singerConnie Stevens, organized a 1974 celebrity gala to raise money for his expenses. The gala, whose attendees includedFrank Sinatra andBarbra Streisand, raised $118,000 ($752,000 today^[6]).^[2] In 1976, Stacy won a $1.9 million lawsuit ($10.5 million today^[6]) against the bar that had served the drunk driver.^[2][4]

After his recovery, Stacy appeared in roles created to accommodate his disability. His comeback film was the 1975Kirk Douglas WesternPosse, where he played newspaper editor Harold Hellman, a part Douglas had written for him. In 1977, Stacy starred in the TV movieJust a Little Inconvenience as a double-amputeeVietnam veteran. It earned him his firstPrimetime Emmy Award nomination forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special. In 1980, he starred in and produced the TV movieMy Kidnapper, My Love. His brother, Louie Elias, a character actor and stuntman, wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Oscar Saul, to accommodate Stacy's disability. Elias was also the associate producer. Stacy also played Ed, the Bartender in the Disney filmSomething Wicked This Way Comes.

Stacy's other TV appearances includedHotel,Cagney & Lacey (for which he was nominated for a second Primetime Emmy forOutstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series) andHighway to Heaven. His last TV role was in five 1990 episodes of the cop seriesWiseguy, as Ed Rogosheske. He made final appearance as guest star in episode "Communicable Theater" the sitcom seriesRoseanne in 1991.

Stacy was married twice. He married actress and singerConnie Stevens on October 12, 1963, in Hollywood.^[7] They were divorced in November 1966.^[8] His second marriage was to actressKim Darby in 1968. They had a daughter, Heather, and divorced in 1969.^[9][10]

In November 1995, Stacy pleadedno contest to a charge of molesting an 11-year-old girl.^[11] On December 7, 1995, he failed to appear for sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court and was arrested the next day in a Honolulu, Hawaii hospital after he fled California. He attempted suicide by jumping off a cliff. After recovering, he waivedextradition and returned to California. On March 5, 1996, he received a six-year prison sentence. The prosecutor said she believed Stacy might have been eligible for probation for the molestation, but his post-arrest behavior, coupled with two arrests in June 1995 for prowling at the homes of other girls,^[2][12] led her to seek a prison sentence.^[13][14] He served his sentence at theCalifornia Institution for Men in Chino, California.^[2]

On September 9, 2016, Stacy died ofanaphylactic shock in Ventura, California after being administered an antibiotic injection at the office of Dr. Cedric Emery.^[15][16] He was 79.^[15]

Stacy is portrayed byTimothy Olyphant in the 2019Quentin Tarantino filmOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood starringLeonardo DiCaprio andBrad Pitt.^[17] He is set to reprise his role in the sequelThe Adventures of Cliff Booth.

• James Stacy atIMDb
• James Stacy Web Ring
• James Stacy Biography (aka Maurice William Elias)

• 1936 births
• 2016 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• American amputees
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American people convicted of child sexual abuse
• American people of Lebanese descent
• American people of Scottish descent
• Deaths from anaphylaxis
• Male actors from Los Angeles
• Male Western (genre) film actors
• Prisoners and detainees of California
• Pseudonymous actors
• Respiratory disease deaths in California
• Television producers from California
• Western (genre) television actors

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