Retired actor Harvey Jason, 86, was recently spotted outside his bookstore in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, decades after quitting Hollywood to become a shop owner.
Jason wore a floral shirt and khaki pants as he moved a traffic cone from the front of his store, Mystery Pier Books, on Thursday.
The actor rose to prominence in the 1960s and remained a regular presence on television through the late 1990s. His credits include The Love Boat, Wonder Woman, Seinfeld, Knight Rider, Family Ties, Dynasty and Star Trek: The Next Generation. On film, he is best remembered for playing the hunter in 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, his final on-screen role.
Life at Mystery Pier Books
Jason runs Mystery Pier Books, located on Sunset Boulevard, together with his son Louis. The shop specializes in collectible first-print literature and has been described as one of the most revered first edition book shops in America.
Its clientele has included author James Ellroy, actors Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, and director Guillermo del Toro.
Among the store's most expensive items is a first print of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, valued at $35,000. The biggest sale in the shop's history was the original sheet music to God Bless America, signed by contralto Kate Smith, which sold for $150,000.
Why he left acting
Speaking to Spectrum News, Jason said he had enjoyed the spotlight during his acting career but ultimately chose to leave the industry because of what he described as the "egos" and "superficial people" in Hollywood.
"I've never been happier professionally," he said of his second career as a bookstore owner.
"I've come to the point of my life where I realize what's important and what's superficial and what I want to do with the remaining time that God allots me here," he said.
Marriage to Pamela Franklin
Jason is married to English actress Pamela Franklin, now 76, known for her roles in 1970s horror films including Necromancy and The Legend of Hell House. The couple met on the set of Necromancy and wed in 1970.
Franklin won Best Supporting Actress at the National Board of Review Awards in 1970 for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She retired from acting in the early 1980s to raise the couple's two sons, while Jason continued working on screen until the 1990s.
