jan merlin (born jan wasylewski; april 3, 1925 – september 20, 2019) was an american character actor, screenwriter, and author. merlin was born in new york city. his best known roles were "hell bent for leather", "guns of diablo" (1965), "the st. valentine's day massacre" (1967), "take the money and run" (1969), "the twilight people" (1972), "i escaped from devil's island" (1973), "the slams" (1973), "the hindenburg" (1975) and "time trackers" (1989).