Stefan Gierasch obit

Actor Stefan Gierasch has died

He was not on the list.

Stefan Gierasch passed away Saturday, September 6, 2014, surrounded by loved ones, in Santa Monica, California; and yet, Stefan lives on through the profound affect he had on his family, friends, and the theatrical world. Born in NYC on February 5, 1926, Stefan began his broadway career in To Kiss and Tell, and joined the Actors Studio in 1952. He brought to life many characters for the stage and screen, including for productions of the Iceman Cometh, Of Mice and Men, the Hustler, High Plains Drifter, Jeremiah Johnson, Carrie, and countless television appearances. Acting chose him, and Stefan embraced it with a lifelong passion; a brilliant artist to the end. Stefan defined life for those that loved him, including his wife Hedy Sontag-Gierasch, son Matthew Hogan, and daughters Elisa and Amanda Gierasch. A memorial will be announced shortly.

Gierasch made over 100 screen appearances, mostly in American television, beginning in 1951. In the mid-1960s, he performed with the Trinity Square Players in Providence, Rhode Island. He appeared in dozens of films including in The Hustler (1961), The Traveling Executioner (1970), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), What's Up Doc? (1972), High Plains Drifter (1973), Carrie (1976), Silver Streak (1976), Victory at Entebbe (1976), Blue Sunshine (1977), The Champ (1979), Blood Beach (1980) and Perfect (1985).

In 1994 he appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito film Junior as Edward Sawyer, and in 1995's Murder in the First as Warden James Humson. Gierasch made many TV appearances, as in Kung Fu, Starsky & Hutch, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and ER.

Selected filmography

 

    The Young Don't Cry (1957) – Billy

    That Kind of Woman (1959) – Soldier (uncredited)

    The Hustler (1961) – Preacher

    The Traveling Executioner (1970) – Willy Herzallerliebst

    What's Up Doc? (1972) – Fritz

    Jeremiah Johnson (1972) – Del Gue

    The New Centurions (1972) – Landlord

    High Plains Drifter (1973) – Mayor Jason Hobart

    Claudine (1974) – Sanitation Foreman

    Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) – Sgt. Danaher

    The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1976) – Hotel Clerk

    Carrie (1976) – Mr. Morton

    Silver Streak (1976) – Professor Schreiner & Johnson

    Victory at Entebbe (1976) – General Mordecai Gur

    Blue Sunshine (1977) – Lt. Jennings

    The Champ (1979) – Charlie Goodman

    Blood Beach (1980) – Dr. Dimitrios

    Perfect (1985) – Charlie

    The Rosary Murders (1987) – Trupiano

    Spellbinder (1988) – Edgar DeWitt

    Miami Vice episode 5x16 "Victim of Circumstance" (1989)

    Megaville (1990) – Dr. Vogel

    Mistress (1992) – Stuart Stratland, Sr.

    Jack the Bear (1993) – Father-in-Law

    Dave (1993) – House Majority Leader

    Junior (1994) – Edward Sawyer

    Murder in the First (1995) – Warden James Humson

    Starry Night (1999) – Professor Beckmore

    Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002) – Nathan

    The Hunter's Moon (2009) – The Sage (final film role)