His debut on television came in 1954 in "A Time to Live." He was rarely absent from the small screen thereafter, making countless appearances on soap operas, television movies and television dramas. His most famous TV role was that of boss Peter Thornton of Richard Dean Anderson's crimesolver, MacGyver. Mr. Elcar attracted considerable attention when he began to go blind due to glaucoma midway through the series, and the show's producers, rather than dismiss him, decided to write the ailment into his character. He continued to act after the 1992 end of "MacGyver," despite being completely sightless.