Buried in the prestigious Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California. He is located in the Corridor of Memories near Marilyn Monroe.
Had the rare ability to turn a one-dimensional stereotype into a multi-dimensional character, and possessed a marvelous speaking voice that could imbue even the most banal dialogue with emotion, interest, and charm.
He and his wife, Sally Carter-Ihnat, had a son together. Sally also had a daughter from a previous marriage.
His parents migrated from his native Czechoslovakia. Moved to Hollywood in 1958 from Canada.
Ice-eyed, brown-haired, smooth-looking villain, mostly on US TV.
Ihnat became hooked on acting when he played a child role in an amateur theatre near Lynden, Ontario.
In 1960, Pvt. Ihnat won second prize in the Republic of Korea poetry contest for his entry entitled "Toil in the Night" while stationed at Hq. and Hq. Co., U.S. Army Port Inchon, South Korea.
Moved to the United States in 1958 to pursue a career in acting and attended the Pasadena Playhouse. Although he enlisted in the Army and served a two-year hitch in Korea, he never became a US citizen.
Passed away on May 12, 1972, his wife's 30th birthday.
Raised on a farm in Lynden, Ontario. His family settled there after fleeing his native Czechoslovakia in 1939, when he was five. Ihnat, his mother, father and two young boys from other families left Czechoslovakia, three days before Prague was closed.
SPOILER: His character, Garth of Izar, was intended to appear in DC Comics's "Star Trek" series at the end of a story arc during which Garth stabs Captain Kirk in the stomach, being unmasked as the attacker in issue 55. But the artist was forced to depict Garth as a bald-headed old man in a dark gray uniform to avoid using Ihnat's likeness in the comic.
Steve's son Stefan Andrew died at the early age of 32. He was born on April 12, 1972 and died on July 27, 2004. He had battled diabetes from age 20 on. Sally Carter-Ihnat said "Steve's gift for his 70th birthday is that he gets his boy back. Now they will know each other." Stefan is also interred at Westwood Memorial Park.
Steve's widow, Sally Carter-Ihnat, later married "The Hollywood Squares" (1965) TV host Peter Marshall.