Roger C. Carmel was born on September 27, 1932, and was named after his grandfather, Roger Charles, who carved the horses for the carousel in New York's Central Park.
Carmel began his career as an actor on stage before transitioning to television in the early 1960s, appearing in various dramas and situation-comedies, including "Route 66" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show".
In 1967, he was cast as the husband of Kaye Ballard's character on NBC's sitcom "The Mothers-In-Law", which was produced by Desi Arnaz and had poor ratings, leading to a salary dispute. Carmel refused to accept a pay cut and was ultimately replaced by Richard Deacon for the second season.
After leaving "The Mothers-In-Law", Carmel's acting career suffered, and he appeared in various TV shows and films, including "Batman" and "Stump The Stars". He also reprised his role as Harry Mudd in an episode of the animated version of "Star Trek".
In the 1970s, Carmel continued to appear regularly on sitcoms, mostly in ethnic roles, and also appeared in B-movie bombs. He then landed a regular role on the short-lived drama "Fitz and Bones" in 1981.
After "Fitz and Bones" was canceled, Carmel's career slowed down, and he was reduced to doing voice-over work for children's cartoons, including "The Transformers". His last triumph as an actor was in commercials, playing Senor Naugles for the Mexican fast food chain Naugles.
Tragically, Carmel died on November 11, 1986, at the age of 54, due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle.
