Soteron "Sam" Vlahos was born in San Diego, California, on August 10, 1935 to Theodore Vlahos of Kakouri, Greece and Juanita Romero of Baja, Mexico. After serving the U.S. Air Force he pursued his acting career.Although he worked in television, movies and theater his greatest love was theater because of the challenge of one-take delivery and the spontaneity of audience feedback.In 2009 he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (lung scarring of unknown origin) and passed away on September 3, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Jill, and his two sons, Mark and Chris, from a previous marriage.