Friends and Spider-Man star Jack Betts dies aged 96
Emily Bashforth
Published June 21, 2025 12:57pm Updated June 21, 2025 2:00pm
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TV and movie star Jack Betts has died (Picture: Zuma/Shutterstock)
Jack Betts, known for starring in Spider-Man, Friends, and several Spaghetti Westerns, has died aged 96.
The actor died in his sleep at his home in Los Osos, California, on Thursday.
His nephew, Dean Sullivan, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
He had previously shared a home with Everybody Loves Raymond star Doris Roberts, to whom he was a great friend.
She invited him to move from New York into an apartment with her in the Hollywood Hills, where he escorted her to high-profile events from the late 80s until 2016, when she died.
After Roberts’ death at 90, Betts said they were ‘best friends to the very end’ and praised the ‘wonderful times’ they shared.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - OCTOBER 17: Actors Jack Betts and Doris Roberts attend a screening of "Silver Skies" during the 11th annual LA Femme international film festival at Laemmle Music Hall on October 17, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)
He and Doris Roberts were ‘best friends’ (Picture: Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)
He even shared the small screen with his companion, as they worked together for an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in 1999.
Betts, born in Miami, Florida, in 1929, was most famous for appearing as Henry Balkan in the 2002 Spider-Man film alongside Tobey Maguire.
His other film roles included a cameo in 1995’s Batman Forever, plus one in Batman & Robin two years later.
TV-wise, he appeared in Seinfeld, Frasier, and Power Rangers.
Betts also popped up in Friends in 2001, playing Tom in The One with Joey’s New Brain.
He enjoyed an incredibly successful and varied career, which was kick-started on Broadway in an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Richard III.
K3HWFG SPIDER MAN , JACK BETTS, [?], WILLEM DAFOE Date: 2002
Betts is perhaps best known for starring in Spider-Man in 2002 (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)
Actor Jack Betts, dressed as Dracula, a role he played on Broadway. NYC, NY, 1979. (Photo by Joe McNally / Getty Images)
He also had a love for the stage, playing Dracula on Broadway in the late 70s (Picture: Joe McNally/Getty Images)
Videograb: Friends - S07E15 The One With Joey's New Brain
Betts appeared in a 2001 episode of Friends (Picture: NBC)
Betts would return to the stage between 1977 and 1980, playing Dracula.
However, things rocketed when he played Hunt Powers across the Italian Spaghetti Western films.
Betts first played Powers in Franco Giraldi’s Sugar Coat in 1966, a role he admitted to bluffing his way into.
Betts went on to reprise the character in 12 films, ending the run in 1972.
Despite the popularity of his movies, Betts was left disappointed by the fact that they did not air in the United States or Canada.
Speaking on The Dev Show in 2021, he said: ‘In the hotel next to mine was Clint Eastwood.
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 22: Actor Jack Betts arrives at 10th Annual Toscars at The Renberg Theatre on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Lilly Lawrence/Getty Images)
Betts’ final on-screen role was in 2018 (Picture: Lilly Lawrence/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - NOVEMBER 01: Actors Doris Roberts (L) and Jack Betts attend the 19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 1, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)
He shared a home with Roberts in the Hollywood Hills (Picture: Mark Davis/Getty Images)
ONE LIFE TO LIVE - Airdate February 18, 1982. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) JACK BETTS;JUDITH STORM;JUDITH LIGHT
Betts enjoyed a varied and successful career (Picture: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
‘He’d go up to his mountain and do his Western, and I’d go up to my mountain and do my Western.
‘But while his films had distribution all over the world, my films were distributed [everywhere] except Canada and America.’
His final screen appearance came in D-Railed in 2018, in which he played The Conductor.
As fans pay tribute to him upon learning of his death, he has been hailed as a ‘legend’ of the acting world.
‘RIP to a legend. Jack Betts brought so much to the screen—from gritty westerns to comic book charm’, wrote @KimHampton91175 on X.
‘Well shoot, another Hollywood gunslinger rides into the sunset. *tips hat* Jack Betts was one of those actors who could make even a B-movie feel like an A-list production’, wrote @43rdbigAIdea.
As well as his nephew, Betts is survived by his nieces, Lynne and Gail, and his sister, Joan, who will celebrate her 100th birthday in November.
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