Efrem Zimbalist Jr., star of 'The FBI,' dead at 95

LOS ANGELES - Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the son of famous musical parents who established his own celebrity in two hit television series,

77 Sunset Strip

and

The F.B.I.

, died Friday at 95.

Mr. Zimbalist's good looks and cool, deductive manner made him the ideal star as the hip private detective in 77 Sunset Strip, which aired from 1958 to 1964. As soon as it ended, he segued into The F.B.I., from 1965 to 1974.

The son of violin virtuoso Efrem Zimbalist and opera singer Alma Gluck, he initially appeared headed for a musical career. He studied violin but was more interested in theater.

After serving in World War II, Mr. Zimbalist made his stage debut in The Rugged Path, starring Spencer Tracy, and he appeared in other plays and a soap opera before being called to Hollywood. Warner Bros. signed him to a contract and cast him in minor film roles.

In 1945, Mr. Zimbalist married Emily McNair and they had a daughter, Nancy, and son, Efrem III.

After his wife died in 1950, he gave up acting for a time to teach at the Curtis Institute, where his father was an artist in residence. He returned to Hollywood five years later and married Loranda Stephanie Spalding in 1956, and she gave birth to their daughter Stephanie, who also took up acting, and small-screen detective work, in the 1980s series Remington Steele.