Cliff Potts, a robust American action star, rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s with his portrayal of pugnacious characters in second features and television series. Born in Glendale, California, as Clifton Vandyke Potts, he was initially billed as 'Cliff Potter' in his early screen appearances.
Potts's first regular television role was as a junior reporter in the high-powered drama series, The Name of the Game, in 1968. He then had supporting roles in the feature films Silent Running, released in 1972, and Sometimes a Great Notion, released in 1971.
Potts's breakthrough came in the genre of B-westerns, where he found some of his most rewarding roles. He played a gunslinger trying to protect an Indian girl in Cry for Me Billy, released in 1972, and starred as the rugged eponymous hero in the pilot for the television series Nevada Smith, released in 1975.
Potts continued to essay rather more unsavory characters in the mini-series Once an Eagle, released in 1976, the telemovie A Case of Rape, released in 1974, and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'Ensign Ro', released in 1987.
Potts also starred in both the pilot movie, Danger in Paradise, released in 1977, and the resulting NBC drama series, Big Hawaii, released in 1977. He played Mitch Fears, the disaffected son of a wealthy, ailing Hawaiian rancher, who returns to the island to claim his inheritance.
For the remainder of his acting career, Potts remained in demand as a guest star in episodic television, alternating between good guys and heavies in series such as Lou Grant, T.J. Hooker, Simon & Simon, MacGyver, Dallas, and Murder, She Wrote.
Potts was married to Maria Yolanda Aguayo, with whom he had three children, from 1975 to 1984.
