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Kevin Hagen was born to professional ballroom dancers in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised by his mother, grandmother, and aunts. Hagen served in World War II, worked for the US State Department in Germany, and had spent a year in law school before he decided to try acting at the age of 27. He was spotted in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms and given a guest role on the classic 1950's series Dragnet. He began to work steadily in television and film (his first regular role on a series was 1958's Yancy Derringer), but he considered his big break the role of a Confederate soldier who kills James Stewart's son in the 1965 film Shenandoah. Hagen popped up on countless series (Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Perry Mason, to name a few), often as a villain.

His most famous role was one of his nicer ones, as kindly Doc Baker on Little House on the Prairie. He played the part from 1974-1983 and in a one-man show, A Playful Dose of Prairie Wisdom.

In 1992 he moved to Grants Pass, Oregon after a celebrity golf tournament, and continued to act. In 2004 he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In the last year of his life, Hagen went to the National Enquirer to claim that Little House creator and star Michael Landon had not given the cast their fair share of money on residuals. In a follow up interview, Hagen thanked fans for their support and said some co-stars had contacted him to tell him they also felt they had been cheated out of money.

Hagen passed away on July 9, 2005. He left behind a widow, Jan (his fourth wife; he met her in 1993), and a son, Kristopher.