Joe E. Tata is likely most recognizable for portraying the one older adult who consistently appeared across 10 seasons of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and its constant cast changes: Nat Bussichio, owner and operator of youthful hangout spot the Peach Pit. Back in the 1960s, Tata landed most of his first jobs in the science-fiction TV of the era. In addition to playing various supervillains' underlings on five episodes of "Batman," he was a favorite of Irwin Allen's production operation, showing up in multiple episodes of "The Time Tunnel," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," and "Lost in Space." On the latter, Tata played five different small roles, all of them uncredited, in five different episodes, all airing in 1967. Tata's characters: the voices of a magician's dummy, a talking computer, a robot, and a robot judge, and in his solo on-screen appearance, an unnamed alien.
Doctors diagnosed the actor with Alzheimer's disease in 2018, and in April 2022, Tata was placed in the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. The actor died the following August at age 85.
