Mantee was born Paul Marianetti in San Francisco California A journalism major at San Mateo Junior College Mantee enlisted in the US Navy for four years during the Korean War that made him decide on acting as a career He graduated from the University of California Berkeley His stage name was changed from an Italiansounding name to the name of Humphrey Bogarts character in The Petrified Forest He made a great number of guest appearances in wellknown television shows and starred in a handful of films including a cult classic Robinson Crusoe on Mars A restored version of the film was released in 2007 by The Criterion Collection Mantee authored two novels In Search of the Perfect Ravioli Ballantine Books 1991 and a semiautobiographical Bruno of Hollywood Ballantine Books 1994 Mantee a longtime Malibu resident died November 7 2013 at a rehabilitation center in Canoga Park California He was survived by his wife Suzy Davis Mantee