Goodbye, Mr. Peters.

Another figure from my childhood has passed. House Peters, Jr., 92, died yesterday in Los Angeles.

Peters was a long-time supporting actor, appearing in so many of the shows I watched such as Perry Mason, The Roy Rogers Show, Lassie, The Twilight Zone, The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke. Do you remember the Shark Men of the Flash Gordon serials? They lived in an underwater kingdom on Mongo. House was the chief shark.

He is best known for being the first Mr. Clean in Proctor and Gamble television ads. I still remember being very careful not to disturb my mother's nap during As the World Turns every afternoon. Mr. Clean made a racket cleaning house during commercials. Mom slept right thought it. However, if I happened to bump the sofa or drop something, she would wake and tell me to be quiet. Then Mr. Clean would wink at me.

Peters was sharp. He set goals, saying he would change careers if not a star by age 50. By that time, 1966, he was doing little acting beyond a recurring role on Lassie. Peters then began a sucessful real estate business.

I extend best wishes to his wife, Lucy Pickett, their two sons and a daughter, and four grandchildren. One can learn more about Peters and his family in his autobiography, Another Side of Hollywood.