Kay E. Kuter

Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter (April 25, 1925 - November 12, 2003) was an American actor who starred on television and in film. Kay was born in Los Angeles, California.

Kuter performed mostly as a serious actor or "heavy" in many 1960s series, often in a beard, before taking a recurring role on two CBS sitcoms. He is mostly recognized for his role in the 1960s television series Green Acres and Petticoat Junction as Newt Kiley. In total, he made roughly 29 appearances between both series. He also starred in several television films.

He appeared in many films including The Last Starfighter as Enduran, Warlock (1989 film) and Gross Anatomy (film). His last film role was in the 2004 film Forbidden Warrior. He also provided voice work for kids films including providing the voice of Santa Claus in Annabelle's Wish and the voice of Grimsby in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea replacing the late Ben Wright (actor) who died in 1989 shortly after providing Grimsby's voice in the first film.

In recent years, Kay did extensive voice acting in video games including playing the bartender Griswold Goodsoup in The Curse of Monkey Island and Dockmaster Velasco in Grim Fandango, both well-known LucasArts Adventure games of the 1990s. He was probably best known to video game fans as Werner Huber in The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery. He was also the voice of "Hershey's Kisses" commercials for 14 years.

He made guest appearances on many television series including Bonanza, Perry Mason (TV series),  Gunsmoke, Star Trek: The Next Generation as a Cytherian in the season four episode "The Nth Degree", and in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Bajoran Sirah in the first season episode "The Storyteller". He also appeared on ER (TV series), the Charmed episode "Happily Ever After", the The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) episode "The Premonition" as a "Limbo Being" caught in time, Seinfeld as the Latvian Orthodox priest, and Frasier as a vagrant who wants a kiss from Martin Crane.

Kuter died on November 12, 2003 from pulmonary complications at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank California at the age of 78. It is unknown whether he had surviving family members or not. He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.