Paul Picerni | 'Untouchables' actor, 88

Paul Picerni, 88, a prolific television and screen actor best known as Agent Eliot Ness' right-hand man in the hit 1960s series

The Untouchables

, died Jan. 12 at his home in Llano, Calif.

The cause was a heart attack, his manager, John Gloske, said.

When Agent Ness, played by Robert Stack, burst through the doors of a Prohibition-era speakeasy in Chicago, just a step behind him was his stocky, jet-black-haired sidekick, Lee Hobson, portrayed by Picerni.

The role of Hobson was a far cry from the role of a gangster Mr. Picerni played in the show's pilot episode in 1959. The Untouchables, based on an actual team of federal law enforcement agents in the 1930s, ran on ABC for four seasons, with Mr. Picerni as Hobson for the last three.

In a career that spanned nearly four decades, Mr. Picerni appeared in more than 60 movies and 450 TV shows. His best-known film character was the romantic young man in the 1953 horror movie House of Wax, one of the first 3-D productions by a major studio.

Among his other film credits are Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), Airport (1970), and To Hell and Back (1955). TV credits include appearances on Kojak and Mannix.

- N.Y. Times News Service