Corey Fischer obit

Corey Fischer, actor and co-founder of A Traveling Jewish Theatre, dies at 75

He was not on the list.

Corey Fischer was quoting Walt Whitman, among others, up until the end, his wife, China Galland, said of her husband’s death on Saturday, June 6. The longtime Bay Area actor and co-founder of A Traveling Jewish Theatre (later known as the Jewish Theatre San Francisco) died at Driftwood Healthcare Center, in Hayward, after suffering a brain aneurysm, which had stroke-like effects, in December. He was 75.

A family friend and longtime student, Evan Spector, confirmed the details of Fischer’s death.


Fischer left behind a slew of credits in television (“M*A*S*H,” “All in the Family,” “Sunshine,” “Sanford and Sun” and “Frasier,” among others) and film (“The Five-Year Engagement” and “Final Analysis,” among others). But in the Bay Area, where he came with the Los Angeles-founded TJT in 1982, after a tour was well-received here, he will be remembered for his work in theater — for a restless artistic and intellectual curiosity; for a belief in the creative power of the ensemble and improvisation; for a deeply physical connection to his characters; for his elevation of, and collaboration with, his students; for his advancement of Jewish stories, in all their richness and range; for a passionate commitment to progressive causes.

Reflecting on current events, Spector said Fischer “would have been marching in the protests without a doubt.”

His wish to create — and to create meaningful works — was much deeper than his wish to be famous,” said TJT cofounder and lifelong collaborator Naomi Newman.

For foolsFURY founder and co-artistic director Ben Yalom, Fischer was an early inspiration to stick with a career in theater. Yalom was an undergrad at Stanford University when he met Fischer, who was a guest lecturer.

“I remember that he had us lie down and took us on a guided meditation,” Yalom said. (Fischer was an avid practitioner of meditation; toward the end of his life, he sought lay ordination as a Zen Buddhist.) “I had never encountered anything of the sort in my theater classes. It was the idea that making theater was connected to life, that there was something about what we were doing that could be connected to one’s whole person.”