25.12.1939 - 01.01.2003 (63 years)
Royce Dwayne Applegate (December 25, 1939 – January 1, 2003) was an American actor and screenwriter. Born in Oklahoma, his most visible role was that of Chief Petty Officer Manilow Crocker on the first season of the Steven Spielberg-produced television series seaQuest DSV. In 1985 Applegate played family man-turned-kidnapper Donald Brown, a father who kidnaps Sam McKinney (Danny Cooksey) in order to replace his own dead son, on the premiere episodes of Diff'rent Strokes final season (when it moved from NBC to ABC). Applegate portrayed Confederate General James L. Kemper in two Ronald F. Maxwell movies, Gettysburg (1993) and Gods and Generals (2003). On New Year's Day 2003, Applegate died in his Hollywood Hills home in a fire just one week after his 63rd birthday.