Warren Berlinger obit

Warren Berlinger, Actor in 'Blue Denim,' 'Come Blow Your Horn' and 'Cannonball Run,' Dies at 83

 

He was not on the list.

In the 1950s, he twice went from Broadway to playing the same part on the big screen.

Warren Berlinger, the boyish actor who starred in the Broadway and film versions of Blue Denim and in the original stage production of Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn, has died. He was 83.

Berlinger died Wednesday at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, California, his daughter Elizabeth told The Hollywood Reporter.

Berlinger also worked alongside his future wife, Betty Lou Keim, on Broadway in 1955's A Roomful of Roses, and they reprised their roles for the big-screen adaptation at Fox, retitled Teenage Rebel (1956). That marked his movie debut.

Quite similarly, Berlinger received a Theatre World award in 1958 for starring opposite Carol Lynley in Blue Denim, a story about teenagers and abortion, and they both returned for the movie version, also at Fox, that was released a year later.

Berlinger portrayed Buddy Baker on Broadway in Come Blow Your Horn starting in 1961 — Joel Gray would replace him — but when it came time for the 1963 Paramount adaptation, it was Tony Bill who got the part of Frank Sinatra's younger brother.

Berlinger, however, kept busy with roles in Jack Lemmon's The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960), Because They're Young (1960), Patty Duke's Billie (1965), Elvis Presley's Spinout (1966) and Thunder Alley (1967), starring Annette Funicello and Fabian.

On television, Berlinger played Joey Bishop's kid brother — Marlo Thomas was their sister — on the first season (1961-62) of The Joey Bishop Show, and in the '70s, he was a regular on the short-lived series A Touch of Grace, Bracken's World and Operation Petticoat.

He also was known for sharing a motorcycle with Bert Convy in Hal Needham's The Cannonball Run (1981), starring Burt Reynolds.

Born in Brooklyn on Aug. 31, 1937, Berlinger was in the cast of the original 1946 Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun, starring Ethel Merman. His Great White Way credits also included The Happy Time, Take a Giant Step, Moss Hart's Anniversary Waltz and 1978's A Broadway Musical.

He performed as the ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch for two years in the '60s in the London stage production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a role made famous by Robert Morse on Broadway and the big screen.

Berlinger's movie résumé also included Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), The Girl Most Likely to ... (1973), Lepke (1975), The Shaggy D.A. (1976), The World According to Garp (1982), Ten Little Indians (1989), Hero (1992) and That Thing You Do! (1996).

His TV guest-starring appearances ranged from Howdy Doody, Johnny Staccato and That Girl to Happy Days, Columbo, Friends and Grace and Frankie.

Berlinger joined SAG in 1956 and served on several committees over the years, always "looking out for the little guy," his daughter said.

He was married to Keim from 1960 until her death in January 2010, and they had four children, Lisa, David, Edward and Elizabeth. His survivors also include eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

1956 Teenage Rebel Dick Hewitt

1956 Three Brave Men Harry Goldsmith

1959 Blue Denim Ernie

1960 Because They're Young Buddy McCalla

1960 Platinum High School 'Crip' Hastings

1960 The Wackiest Ship in the Army Radioman 2nd Class A.J. 'Sparks' Sparks

1961 All Hands on Deck Ens. Rudy Rush

1965 Billie Mike Benson

1966 Spinout Philip Short

1967 Thunder Alley Eddie Sands

1973 The Long Goodbye Morgan

1973 The Girl Most Likely to... Herman Anderson TV movie

1975 Emergency! S5EP5 Frank Fenady Heart Transplant Patient

1975 Lepke Gurrah Shapiro

1975 The Four Deuces Chico Hamilton - the Arch Rival

1976 I Will, I Will... for Now Steve Martin

1976 Harry and Walter Go to New York Stage Manager

1976 The Shaggy D.A. Dip

1977 Happy Days Sergeant Betchler Season 4, Episode 20: "The Physical"

1979 The Magician of Lublin Herman

1981 The Cannonball Run Shakey Finch

1982 The World According to Garp Stew Percy

1986 Free Ride Dean Stockwell

1987 Going Bananas Palermo

1988 Outlaw Force Capt. Morgan

1988 Take Two Apartment Manager

1989 Ten Little Indians Mr. Blore

1992 Hero Judge Goines

1996 That Thing You Do! Polaroid T.V. Host

2003 They Call Him Sasquatch Howard Dell