Ernie from ‘My Three Sons’ lands TV movie

Barry Livingston takes on rare hero role in ‘Final Approach’

Barry Livingston is usually cast as science geeks, so he was thrilled to play an engineer fighting off hijackers in "Final Approach."

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updated 5:34 p.m. ET May 22, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Livingston admits he’s not movie hero material. The former child star from “My Three Sons” definitely doesn’t look the part.

Livingston usually gets mild-mannered, science-geek roles, so he was excited to land a role in the action movie “Final Approach,” airing 8 p.m. EDT Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

The 54-year-old actor plays an airline passenger whose expertise as an aeronautical engineer allows him to help Dean Cain’s character as they attempt to foil hijackers.

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“I ultimately get to step up and be a hero in my own right,” Livingston says. “When I got to that part in the script, I said, ’Wow, I’ve never done that before! How can I pass this up?”’

Anthony Michael Hall, Lea Thompson, Ernie Hudson and Richard Roundtree also star in the movie.

Livingston is best remembered as Ernie Douglas on the hit sitcom “My Three Sons” that aired in the 1960s and early ’70s.

“Unlike many former kid actors who struggle to find good roles as adults, my ’My Three Sons’ fame has never been a burden for me,” he says. “I’ve worked hard to be good at what I do and it’s paid off in the respect I get from producers and casting people. They see me as a capable actor they want to hire.”

Livingston’s credits include the TV series “Mad Men,” “Eli Stone” and “Crossing Jordan.” He has a role in the upcoming Adam Sandler movie comedy “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.”