Friday, December 7, 2012

Russ "Rusty" Thacker obit

 

RUSS THACKER OBITUARY

 He was not on the list.


Russ "Rusty" Thacker starred in the musical Your Own Thing in 1968 and received rave reviews from Walter Kerr and Clive Barnes. Thacker then went on to star in a record number of Broadway shows in the 1970s and "80s that closed in a week or less: Heathen, Dear Oscar, Home Sweet Homer (with Yul Brynner as Odysseus), The Grass Harp (with Barbara Cook), Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up, and Me Jack, You Jill. Thacker and Allen Hill performed a cabaret review mentioning these short runs in fun. Thacker toured as Barnum, George M, Pippin, and Will Rogers, and also starred alongside Gene Kelly, Vincent Price, Georgia Engel, Priscilla Lopez, Judith Ivey, Debbie Boone, Sandy Duncan, Shirley Booth, Donna McKechnie, and others. Thacker was born on June 23, 1946 in Washington, DC, attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, and played leading roles in shows there; shortly after graduation, he and Georgia Engel (from nearby Walter Johnson High School and later of the Mary Tyler Moore Show) starred in Earnest in Love and Tip-Toes. He made his Broadway debut in 1967 in the revival of Life with Father. He died of cancer on December 7, 2012. He is survived by his partner of 18 years, John Olund, a singer in New York City; Jeffrey Thacker of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Billie Saunders of Silver Spring, Maryland.

Actor

 

    Annie Potts, Georgia Engel, and Adrian Zmed in Goodtime Girls (1980)

    Goodtime Girls

        TV Series

        1980

 

Savages (1972)

Savages

 

    Andrew, an Eligible Young Man

 

    1972

 

A.W.O.L. (1972)

A.W.O.L.

 

    Willy

 

    1972

 

Parades (1972)

Parades

 

    'Baby' Novick

 

    1972

 

The F.B.I. (1965)

The F.B.I.

 

    Junior (as Rusty Thacker)

 

    TV Series

 

    1969

 

David O'Brien in The Doctors (1963)

The Doctors

 

    Bellboy (uncredited)

 

    TV Series

 

    1968

 

Donna Mills, Robert Burr, and Shawn Campbell in Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967)

Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

 

    Andy Hurley #2 (1969)

 

    TV Series

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