Kerwin Mathews | 'Sinbad' star, 81

Kerwin Mathews, 81, a swashbuckling movie actor of the 1950s who is best known for his starring role in

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

and that film's roiling sword fight with a skeleton, died July 5 at his San Francisco home.

The death was confirmed by his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll.

In 1957, the renowned stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen cast Mr. Mathews as a flesh-and-blood Sinbad who battles fire-breathing dragons, a Cyclops, and a woman who morphs into a snarling serpent. Nearly half a century later, Nicoll said, Mr. Mathews regularly received letters from people recalling his climactic duel with the skeleton.

During his 20-year career, he acted in 22 movies and made many TV appearances. He is also known for playing Lemuel Gulliver, tied to the ground by the little people of Lilliput, in Harryhausen's 1960 movie The 3 Worlds of Gulliver.

In 1963, he was cast as Johann Strauss Jr. in the Disney TV production The Waltz King.

"He was most proud to play Strauss," Nicoll said, "and that he had to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Whether they actually followed him, I don't know, but he tried very hard."

- N.Y. Times News Service