General Carter (Steve Ihnat) one of my favorite movie villains

The late Steve Ihnat was an extremely prolific actor. Tragically he would die at the tender young age of 37 from a heart attack. Steve Ihnat's movie resume shows that he typically played men-of-action roles, often as villains. While Steve Ihnat could pass credibly as a good guy in roles like police detectives, FBI agents, good cowboys, etc., Hollywood tended to prefer Ihnat as a villain.

Steve Ihnat carried that icy blue eye stare that could stop you in your tracks. He had a natural authoritarian look that made him natural for such roles. If I had to pick my favorite Steve Ihnat villain role, it would be the venal General Carter in, IN LIKE FLINT (1967). Carter actually starts off in the movie as a full colonel. When the fake U.S. President takes over, Carter is promoted to brigadier general (one-star), and for the rest of the movie is referred to as, General Carter. His promotion to brigadier general is never explained in, IN LIKE FLINT. But anyone who served time in the military would understand the advantage. As a general, Carter had greater freedom of movement and action with far less oversight, and more authority to act on his own. He could serve the fake president and the nefarious secret organization much more effectively as a general rather than a colonel.

Steve Ihnat (d.1972) is buried in the Los Angeles Pierce Brothers Westside Memorial Park cemetery off Glendon Avenue in the crypt area, just a few spaces down from the iconic Marilyn Monroe. The empty crypt next to Marilyn Monroe is owned by Hugh Hefner, owner of Playboy Magazine.