Howard Witt obit

Beloved Chicago actor and Tony nominee Howard Witt, has died

 He was not on the list.

Chicago actor Howard Witt, who was nominated for a Tony award for best actor in a featured role in the 1999 Broadway remount of the Goodman Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” has died. He was 85.

A real life character as well as “a character actor,” Witt (who had suffered a heart attack in 2002) died Wednesday of “natural causes.” The death was confirmed by his daughter, Robin Witt (a frequent theater director in Chicago who also is assistant professor of directing at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte).

In a statement Thursday, Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls said: “The generosity, warmth, and humor which fueled his onstage work was equally evident offstage, where he was equal parts sage and raconteur, offering a sympathetic ear and counsel to generations of fellow actors. In an age in which success for an actor is often defined by high-profile roles in cinema spectacles, Howard was a proud man of the theater, beloved and respected by everyone who knew him. And for me, Howard was more than an artistic collaborator; he was a loyal friend (a real mensch, in his words) whose love and spirit I will always cherish.”

There was a bit of the Borscht Belt schmoozer about Howard Witt. At the same time there was the very essence of the classically trained actor whose “character actor” demeanor made him a natural to play men of wit and deep life experience. Along with his portrayal of Charley, Willy Loman’s sharp but upstanding neighbor (a role for which he also received Drama Desk and Ovation Award nominations, and which he reprised in London and throughout the U.S.), Witt could play everything from The Fool in Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” to Adam Kirchbaum, an enigmatic kibbitzer among chess players in a Manhattan park in Candido Tirado’s “Fish Men” (both at the the Goodman), and Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted screenwriter of the McCarthy era, a role he assumed in a 2008 TimeLine Theatre production.

“Dad was resolute in his belief that acting was a noble profession,” said Robin Witt. “He was never more alive than when he was in a production.”

“My parents met at the the Goodman School of Drama in the mid 1950s, and lived briefly in New York City in the late 1950s, where dad appeared in a handful of plays including ‘As You Like It’ at the New York Shakespeare Festival with George C. Scott. When the family moved back to Chicago in 1959 and settled in Albany Park, he was not quite able to make a living as an actor yet, and worked odd-jobs, including as a night watchman.”

“My sister and brother and I were lucky to spend our youth attending the theater,” said Witt. “One of my earliest memories is sitting quietly with them on a large indoor swing backstage at Theatre on the Lake in Chicago where our mom was appearing in a production of ‘Bus Stop’ my dad had directed. We moved to Pittsburgh (1967-68) while dad worked for a season at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. At the end of the season there, Zelda Fichandler, who had seen dad audition, invited him to join her company at Arena Stage in D.C.”

“He stayed at Arena for almost 10 years, acting in some absolutely stunning productions with some of the finest theater artists in the U.S. and beyond.”

Witt and his wife divorced in the mid-1970s and he moved to Hollywood where, for the next decade, he guest starred in more than 75 TV shows including “Kojak,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Rhoda,” “The Rockford Files,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Archie Bunker’s Place” (in the role of Sol Rabinowitz), “Hill Street Blues” (as Schwartz), and “Law & Order.” But he remained a creature of the theater, and according to his daughter, “he was most proud of his later work in Chicago theater, with his Tony nomination for ‘Death of a Salesman’ the highlight of his career.”

My dad also attended every show I directed, and would always offer some annoyingly correct piece of criticism,” said Witt. “He was a terrific cook and baker — and a fierce and loyal supporter of his beloved Cubs.”

Witt, who also appeared on Broadway in the role of Shelley in David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross,” and Off Broadway in Rebecca Gilman’s “Boy Gets Girl,” for which he received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination, toured with Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of”The Time of Your Life,” playing the role of Kit Carson.

“The thing Howard was most proud of being was a Chicago actor – of being part of the community and having the cache that goes along with that,” said actor-writer Steve Pickering, who called Witt “Pops,” and recalled the countless breakfasts they would have, almost weekly, in diners around Chicago (or on the road when in “Salesmen” and other shows together), with “special guests,” including actors Brian Dennehy, Stacy Keach, Kate Buddeke and Chuck Stransky at times.

As for what made Witt such a fine actor, Pickering said: “He was honest. Some actors, as they get older, fall back on the tricks of the trade. But I still remember the look on his face when he played The Fool at the Goodman, and his ability to take you into his mind and make a connection with you. He loved the process of it, the job of it. You always knew Howard was in the place he was intended to be, and where he wanted to be more than anywhere else.”

But Pickering may have captured the actor best with one of their favorite lines from Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove”: “Ay God, Woodrow — it’s been quite a party.”

Survivors include another daughter, Deborah (a Chicago police officer), a son, Joshua, and a grandson.

 

Actor

redBLUE

The Orange Man

Short

2010

 

Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman (2000)

Death of a Salesman

Charley

TV Movie

2000

 

Ice-T, Sam Waterston, Mariska Hargitay, Camryn Manheim, Christopher Meloni, Jeffrey Donovan, Mehcad Brooks, Kelli Giddish, and Danielle Moné Truitt in Law & Order (1990)

Law & Order

Gruen Judge Keith Silver

TV Series

1991–1992

2 episodes

 

Age Isn't Everything (1991)

Age Isn't Everything

Rifkin

1991

 

Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston (1990)

Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston

Dr. Greenfield

TV Movie

1990

 

Once a Hero (1987)

Once a Hero

Judge

TV Series

1987

1 episode

 

The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney

Mr. Boogedy William Hanover

TV Series

1986–1987

2 episodes

 

Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls (1985)

The Golden Girls

Hunter McCoy

TV Series

1987

1 episode

 

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)

Knots Landing

Dr. Parker Randall Warrington

TV Series

1981–1986

2 episodes

 

Denzel Washington, Ed Begley Jr., David Morse, Howie Mandel, Cynthia Sikes, Ellen Bry, William Daniels, and Ed Flanders in St. Elsewhere (1982)

St. Elsewhere

TV Series

1986

1 episode

 

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)

Murder, She Wrote

Bart Nelson

TV Series

1985

1 episode

 

George Burns Comedy Week (1985)

George Burns Comedy Week

TV Series

1985

1 episode

 

Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist in Remington Steele (1982)

Remington Steele

George Broder

TV Series

1985

1 episode

 

Sam's Son (1984)

Sam's Son

Cy Martin

1984

 

Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in Hardcastle and McCormick (1983)

Hardcastle and McCormick

Bill Jenkins

TV Series

1983

1 episode

 

Simon & Simon (1981)

Simon & Simon

Joey Marcotte Warren Leeds

TV Series

1981–1983

2 episodes

 

Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, and Judd Hirsch in Taxi (1978)

Taxi

Immigration Officer

TV Series

1983

1 episode

 

At Ease (1983)

At Ease

Major Dodd

TV Series

1983

1 episode

 

Bea Arthur in Amanda's (1983)

Amanda's

Mr. Cutler

TV Series

1983

1 episode

 

Lookin' to Get Out (1982)

Lookin' to Get Out

Sid Dorfman - Man Interrupted by Jerry While Talking to Patti

1982

 

Robert Clohessy, Michael Warren, and Bruce Weitz in Hill Street Blues (1981)

Hill Street Blues

Schwartz

TV Series

1982

3 episodes

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

Lt. Joe BurkeLt. Joe Burke (1980)

TV Series

1980–1981

7 episodes

 

House Calls (1979)

House Calls

Lieutenant Doyle

TV Series

1981

1 episode

 

Martin Balsam, Carroll O'Connor, Danielle Brisebois, and Jean Stapleton in Archie Bunker's Place (1979)

Archie Bunker's Place

Solomon Rabinowitz

TV Series

1981

2 episodes

 

Polly Holliday, Beth Howland, and Linda Lavin in Alice (1976)

Alice

RobbyRobert

TV Series

1980

2 episodes

 

Hart to Hart (1979)

Hart to Hart

Lieutenant Feldman

TV Series

1980

1 episode

 

Don Johnson and Sharon Gless in Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980)

Revenge of the Stepford Wives

Police Chief

TV Movie

1980

 

The Six O'Clock Follies (1980)

The Six O'Clock Follies

TV Series

1980

1 episode

 

Stone (1979)

Stone

Milt Rosenman

TV Series

1980

1 episode

 

"WKRP In Cincinnati" Bottom Row,Jan Smithers,Loni Anderson,Howard Hesseman, Second Row, Frank Bonner, Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Richard Sanders, Gordon Jump WKRP in Cincinnati

Charles Tillman

TV Series

1979

1 episode

 

Kate Mulgrew in Mrs. Columbo (1979)

Mrs. Columbo

TV Series

1979

1 episode

 

Willie Aames, Betty Buckley, Grant Goodeve, Dianne Kay, Connie Needham, Lani O'Grady, Adam Rich, Susan Richardson, Dick Van Patten, and Laurie Walters in Eight Is Enough (1977)

Eight Is Enough

Harris

TV Series

1979

1 episode

 

Mother and Me, M.D.

Dr. Sam Kanin

TV Movie

1979

 

Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk (1977)

The Incredible Hulk

Bob Cory

TV Series

1979

2 episodes

 

The Rockford Files (1974)

The Rockford Files

Bancroft

TV Series

1979

1 episode

 

Valerie Harper in Rhoda (1974)

Rhoda

Customer Dr. Bernie Gilber tLarry Kruger

TV Series

1977–1978

3 episodes

 

A Woman Called Moses (1978)

A Woman Called Moses

Edward Broadas

TV Mini Series

1978

2 episodes

 

W.E.B.

Walter Matthews

TV Series

1978

5 episodes

 

Killing Stone (1978)

Killing Stone

Mr. Larson

TV Movie

1978

 

Richie Brockelman, Private Eye (1978)

Richie Brockelman, Private Eye

Tom Kelly

TV Series

1978

1 episode

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

Joseph Watson

TV Series

1977

1 episode

 

The Bob Newhart Show (1972)

The Bob Newhart Show

Dr. Ellis

TV Series

1977

1 episode

 

Forever Fernwood (1977)

Forever Fernwood

Cop #2

TV Series

1977

1 episode

 

Kojak (1973)

Kojak

Garage Manager

TV Series

1977

1 episode

 

Zalmen: or, the Madness of God (1975)

Zalmen: or, the Madness of God

The Inspector

TV Movie

1975

 

Appointment with Destiny (1971)

Appointment with Destiny

Congressman Clement Vallandigham

TV Series

1972

1 episode