Martin E. Brooks (born Martin Baum; November 30, 1925 – December 7, 2015) was an American character actor known for playing scientist Dr. Rudy Wells in the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman, from 1975 onward (a role originally portrayed by Martin Balsam and then by Alan Oppenheimer).

Background

Brooks was born Martin Baum in The Bronx. When he was 10, he moved with his family to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After high school, he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army, became a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division and was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received during World War II. He attended Penn State University and enrolled at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research in New York City. He won the off-Broadway best actor award for his performance in Outside the Door and changed his name to Martin Brooks, upon producer Richard Rodgers' suggestion.

1970s and beyond

In the fall of 1977, Brooks and Richard Anderson (as Oscar Goldman) became the first known actors to portray the same characters as regulars simultaneously on two different networks. NBC picked up The Bionic Woman after the series had been cancelled by ABC. ABC continued to airThe Six Million Dollar Man. Brooks had, by that time, been promoted to series regular on both series. The unusual situation lasted only one season; the two series were cancelled by their respective networks in the spring of 1978.

Brooks reprised the role of Wells in three television movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987), Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989) and Bionic Ever After? (1994). His other television roles include Ted Burton inKnots Landing, Mike Snow in Hunter, Dr. Arthur Bradshaw in General Hospital, Deputy D.A. Chapman in McMillan & Wife, and Edgar Randolph in the soap opera Dallas, in a story arc involving J.R. Ewing. He also guest-starred in an episode of The Silent Force in 1970.

Personal life

According to Jon Landau, Brooks was the "soulmate" of Landau's mother, Edie, for over 20 years. They were friends as children and reconnected in 1993 after her husband died.

Brooks died on December 7, 2015, of natural causes at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles. He had turned 90 a week prior to his death.