Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936 – September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV western Lancer.
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.
Early life
Stacy was born Maurice William Elias on December 23, 1936,[1] in Los Angeles to an Ulster-Scots waitress and a Lebanese American bookmaker.[2]
Stacy is perhaps best remembered as a star of the western series Lancer, along with Andrew Duggan, Wayne Maunder, and Paul Brinegar. Lancer aired on CBS 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 musical South Pacific.
Motorcycle accident
On September 27, 1973, Stacy was taking Claire Cox[3][4] 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 singer Connie Stevens, organized a 1974 celebrity gala to raise money for his expenses. The gala, whose attendees included Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, raised $118,000 ($729,000 today).[2] In 1976, Stacy won a $1.9 million lawsuit ($10.2 million today) against the bar that had served the drunk driver.[2][3]
Comeback
After his recovery, Stacy appeared in roles created to accommodate his disability. His comeback film was the 1975 Kirk Douglas Western Posse, where he played newspaper editor Harold Hellman, a part Douglas had written for him. In 1977, Stacy starred in the TV movie Just a Little Inconvenience as a double-amputee Vietnam veteran. It earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special. In 1980, he starred in and produced the TV movie My 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 film Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Stacy was married twice. He married actress and singer Connie Stevens on October 12, 1963, in Hollywood.[5] They were divorced in November 1966.[6] His second marriage was to actress Kim Darby in 1968. They had a daughter, Heather, and divorced in 1969.[7][8]
Arrest and conviction
In November 1995, Stacy pleaded no contest to a charge of molesting an 11-year-old girl.[9] 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 waived extradition 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][10] led her to seek a prison sentence.[11][12] He served his sentence at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California.[2]
Death
On September 9, 2016, Stacy died of anaphylactic shock in Ventura, California after being administered an antibiotic injection at the office of Dr. Cedric Emery.[13][14] He was 79.[13]
