Actor Playing Peacemaker Is Hit in the Face

Actor Lorenzo Lamas of the “Falcon Crest” television series was punched in the face when he tried to break up a fight at a Universal City movie theater between two cousins, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

Lamas, 32, of Los Angeles, suffered a small cut on his forehead in the scuffle that broke out Thursday night inside a theater at the Cineplex Odeon, Deputy Rich Erickson said.

Lamas and his wife, actress Kathleen Kinmont, were watching a movie when two men sitting in front of them began fighting, Erickson said. Lamas tried to break up the fight, but the men attacked him, the deputy said.

Kinmont left the seats to call authorities, and when officers arrived the men had stopped fighting. Lamas was treated at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and released, Erickson said.

The other men were identified as James Stewart, 21, of Meriden, Conn., and Robert Halliday, 23, of Mt. Laurel, N.J. It was not known why they were fighting, deputies said.

“They are cousins, and they said it was a family matter. That’s all they said,” Lt. Don Swift said.

Stewart and Halliday, who apparently did not know who Lamas was, were cited for misdemeanor battery and released without bail. They were scheduled to appear for arraignment Dec. 24 in Beverly Hills Municipal Court, Erickson said.

Lamas is the son of the late actor Fernando Lamas and actress Arlene Dahl. He portrayed Lance Cumson, the playboy heir to a winery empire on the long-running CBS-TV series “Falcon Crest,” and appeared in the movie “Grease.”