George Morfogen, ‘Oz’ Actor and Theater Veteran, Dies at 86
George Morfogen, a veteran stage actor who is best known for portraying the inmate Bob Rebadow on the HBO drama 'Oz,' died Friday at his home in New York. He was 86.
He was not on the list.
George Morfogen, a veteran stage actor who is best known for portraying the inmate Bob Rebadow on the HBO drama Oz, died Friday at his home in New York, his family announced. He was 86.
Morfogen also showed up in eight films directed by Peter Bogdanovich: What’s Up Doc? (1972), Daisy Miller (1974), At Long Last Love (1975), Saint Jack (1979), They All Laughed (1981), Mask (1985), Illegally Yours (1988) and She’s Funny That Way (2014).
Morfogen played the murderer Rebadow on 56 episodes over all six seasons (1997–2003) of Oz, created by Tom Fontana. His character, the oldest inmate at the Oswald State Correctional Facility, possessed a sort of mythical quality, especially after a blackout occurred while he was strapped in the electric chair, sparing his life.
A son of Greek immigrants who was born in the Bronx, Morfogen graduated from Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, then began his Broadway career in 1962 as stage manager on The Fun Couple, a short-lived comedy that featured Jane Fonda and Dyan Cannon.
He went on to act in the Broadway productions of Arms and the Man in 1985; the 1994 revival of An Inspector Calls; Fortune’s Fool in 2002; and the 2008 revival of A Man for All Seasons.
His prominent work included the title role in Uncle Bob, written by longtime friend Austin Pendleton; Voysey Sr. in The Voysey Inheritance; Freud in Freud’s Last Session; and Shotover in Heartbreak House.
An acting instructor at HB Studio in New York, Morfogen spent 17 years as a resident actor with the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Berkshires and performed in five productions off-Broadway for the Mint Theater Company.
He also did Shakespeare in the Park and worked at the Kennedy Center in Washington and on stages in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Phoenix, Seattle, Toronto and Portland, Maine.
His final stage appearance came in June 2017 in Horton Foote’s Traveling Lady, directed by Pendleton at the Cherry Lane Theater.
Survivors include his husband and life partner of 51 years, Gene, and his nieces Leslie and Amanda. Donations in his memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1972 What's Up, Doc? Headwaiter
1973 The Thief Who
Came to Dinner Rivera
1974 Daisy Miller Eugenio
1980 Those Lips,
Those Eyes Sherman Sprat
1980 Times Square Don Dowd
1981 They All
Laughed Leon Leondopolous
1983 Special
Bulletin Dr. Morse Mansfield
1983 V Stanley Bernstein 2 episodes
1984 V: The Final
Battle 1 episodes
1984 Heartbreakers Max
1988 Illegally Yours Judge Norman Meckel
1990 One Life to
Live Judge Anthony Powers 10 episodes
1993 Twenty Bucks Jack Holiday
1996 The Substance
of Fire Otto the printer
1997–2003 Oz Bob Rebadow 56 episodes
1998 Charlie Hoboken Father
2006 Waltzing
Anna Henry
2008 The Marconi
Bros. Grandpa Marconi
2014 She's Funny That Way Harold Fleet
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