"Three's Company" bartender Paul Ainsley dies, 67

Veteran performer Paul Ainsley, who had a recurring role as the Regal Beagle's Jim the Bartender on Three's Company, has died from heart-related complications in Los Angeles, his brother Mark Ainsley White announced. He was 67

Ainsley voiced Wong Wei in the 2001 animated theatrical film Marco Polo: Return To Xanadu.

Also a singer, he was one of the performers of the tune "Practice, Practice, Practice" in the 1994 cartoon movie The Swan Princess.

The veteran performer created the role of King Herod in the landmark original Broadway staging of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Opening on October 12, 1971, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice rock opera, staged by Tom O'Horgan, was an immediate cultural and popular sensation. Ainsley's second-act performance of "King Herod's Song" was a showstopper and is considered the definitive version of the number.

Ainsley claimed more than 3,000 performances of the song -- on Broadway (for 700+ performances), national tours, stock productions, concerts and benefits. (Ainsley is credited with originating the role of Herod on stage, since - -in a rare reversal -- the show's Broadway staging preceded its London version.)

Other select theater career highlights include originating Thenardier in the first national company of Les Miserables, essaying Mr. Darling/Captain Hook to Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan, succeeding Barry Bostwick and Jim Belushi as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and playing Herbie to Karen Morrow's Rose in Gypsy.

Born in Boston on April 11, 1945, Ainsley was also a member of the Improvisational Theatre Project at the Mark Taper Forum.

Details on a future celebration of Ainsley's life are pending.