He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury and for his guest appearance as Schmitter in the Star Trek episode "The Devil in the Dark".

[1] Elliot was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of Susan (née Bernstein) and Israel Shalek.

[5] Over the next few years, Elliot became a prominent fixture in war films of the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in Between Heaven and Hell, The Enemy Below, Pork Chop Hill and PT 109.

In 1961 Elliot played the part of Buddy Blue, a trumpeter on the run from a gangster, in the series 77 Sunset Strip.

[citation needed] Elliot died at his home in Studio City, California, on August 15, 2012, at the age of 89.