Phillip Paley

At 10 years old, actor Philip Paley was immortalized as Cha-Ka on the cult series "The Land of the Lost." Premiering in 1974, the children's show followed the adventures of the Marshall family after the plummet into a parallel dimension brimming with bloodthirsty T-Rexes, devious lizard men, and a race of sub-humans known as the Pakuni. Epitomized by Cha-Ka, the Pakuni turn out to be friendly. After the Marshalls save hirsute Cha-Ka from being a dinosaur's dinner, he becomes their tireless ally and guide through the strange world in which they are now stranded. For its three seasons, Paley performed Cha-Ka from within a fur-lined body suit, wearing extensive makeup. At the start of the series, he communicated mostly through gestures, but by its end, that had given way to relatively idiomatic English that must have been a relief to the young actor. After "The Land of the Lost" ended its run in 1978, Paley largely disappeared from the acting landscape. But devotees to Cha-Ka can catch a glimpse of the actor sans body suit in the 1988 sex comedy "Beach Balls."