Charles Siebert obit

Charles Siebert, Actor on ‘Trapper John, M.D.,’ Dies at 84

The Wisconsin native also appeared six times on Broadway and was a charter member of the famed American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. 

He was not on the list.

Charles Siebert, the stage-trained actor who portrayed the snooty Dr. Stanley Riverside II on all seven seasons of the CBS drama Trapper John, M.D., has died. He was 84.

Siebert died May 1 of COVID-related pneumonia at University of California San Francisco Medical Center, his daughter, Gillian Bozanic, told The Hollywood Reporter.

On the big screen, the accomplished Siebert showed up in such films as The Other Side of Midnight (1977), Blue Sunshine (1977), Coma (1978), Norman Jewison’s … And Justice for All (1979), All Night Long (1981), White Water Summer (1987) and Eight Men Out (1988).

Siebert played Helen Keller’s father in the 1979 NBC telefilm The Miracle Worker that starred Melissa Gilbert as Helen and Patty Duke — an Oscar winner 16 years earlier for her turn as the blind, deaf and mute girl — as teacher Annie Sullivan.

Siebert appeared on all 151 episodes of the M*A*S*H spinoff Trapper John, which aired from 1979-86. His character, the head of emergency services at San Francisco Memorial Hospital, often clashed with surgeon “Trapper” John McIntyre, played by Pernell Roberts.

He became a TV director on the Fox Television series in 1982 and went on to helm episodes of such other shows as Knots Landing, Pacific Blue, Silk Stalkings, Pensacola: Wings of Gold, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess through 2001.

Charles Alan Siebert was born on March 9, 1938, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He studied acting at Marquette University under the renowned Father John J. Walsh and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, then became a charter member of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater in 1965 alongside Richard Dysart, Michael Learned and others.

Siebert appeared on Broadway in Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo in 1967, in Jimmy Shine opposite Dustin Hoffman in 1968-69 and in Neil Simon‘s The Gingerbread Lady alongside Maureen Stapleton in 1970-71, then worked for Joseph Papp in a Public Theater production of David Rabe’s Sticks and Bones in 1971.

Meanwhile, he was making ends meet with roles on such daytime soap operas as Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns and Another World. He headed to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s.

In 1987, Siebert was cast alongside Hayley Mills as her husband on the NBC pilot Good Morning, Miss Bliss; when the show — to eventually become Saved by the Bell — was picked up by the Disney Channel, his role was discarded.

His stage résumé also included David Storey’s The Changing Room and Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway and Rubbers, directed by Alan Arkin, off-Broadway.

He spent seven summers at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

Siebert recurred as the boss of Bonnie Franklin‘s character on CBS’ One Day at a Time from 1977-79 and starred on the short-lived Joan Rivers-created comedy Husbands, Wives & Lovers, also for CBS, in 1979.

He guest-starred three times on All in the Family and appeared on other shows including N.Y.P.D., Kojak, Police Woman, The Rockford Files, The Incredible Hulk, Maude, Mancuso, FBI and Murder, She Wrote.

Survivors include his second wife, Kristine, whom he married in 1986; children Gillian and Christopher, a musician with the band Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers; step-children Kristina, Max and Jeremy; and brothers Ronald, Leonard and Jack.

His first wife, Catherine, died in 1981 of breast cancer at age 44. Another son, Charlie Jr., died in 2020.

Siebert moved to Sonoma County in 1992 and continued to act and direct on stages in the area.

“Charlie was never one to over-compliment, or gush, or flatter,” Craig A. Miller, former artistic director of the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, wrote in a tribute to the actor. “He was serious about his craft; he worked hard, and he expected everyone around him to do the same. He lifted us all to a new level of theatricality and magic. As an actor, he didn’t want the praise — he wanted the damn notes.”

 

Filmography

 

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1961    Like Father Like Son      Lee            Uncredited

1975    Deadly Hero    Baker  

1977    The Other Side of Midnight            Steve   

1977    Blue Sunshine            Detective Clay

1978    Coma            Dr. Goodman        

1979    The Onion Field            Roll Call Sergeant   

1979    ...And Justice for All            Assistant D.A. Keene 

1979    The Last Word            Fisher  

1981    All Night Long            Nevins 

1987    White Water Summer            Jerry Block  

1988    Eight Men Out            Reds Catcher           

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1961    Look Up and Live            Devil            Episode: "The Coventry Mystery Cycle: Part Three"

1964    The Presidency: A Splendid Misery  George McClellan            Television film

1966    Hawk            Ambulance M.D.            Episode: "The Shivering Pigeon"

1967    The Winter's Tale            Florizel            Television film

1968            Macbeth            Malcolm

1968            N.Y.P.D.        Wiley            Episode: "'L' Is for Love and Larceny"

1972            Another World            Dr. Stuart Philbin            2 episodes

1975, 1977            The Rockford Files            Gary Stillman / Bettingen

1975–1978            All in the Family            Young Man / Rabbi / D.A.     3 episodes

1976    Harry O            Shaeffer            Episode: "Mister Five and Dime"

1976    The Adams Chronicles            Charles Francis Adams II          2 episodes

1976            Panache            Rochefort            Television film

1976            Delvecchio      Halsten            Episode: "Board of Rights"

1976    Kojak            Bender            Episode: "By Silence Betrayed"

1976    The Blue Knight            Sgt. Cabe    2 episodes

1976–1978            Barnaby Jones Various roles     3 episodes

1977    Tail Gunner Joe            James Juliana            Television film

1977    Police Woman            Vince            Episode: "Shark"

1977    The Rhinemann Exchange            Sergeant            Episode #1.1

1977    Dog and Cat            Krayler            2 episodes

1977    Most Wanted            Hank Clayton            Episode: "The People Mover"

1977    Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman            Buzz MacGregor            7 episodes

1977            Husbands and Wives            Dixon Carter Fielding            Television film

1977    Murder in Peyton Place            Kaiserman

1977    What's Happening!!            Mr. Ramsey            Episode: "Nothing Personal"

1977    The Incredible Hulk            Ben            Episode: "The Incredible Hulk"

1977            Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo   Rich Finley   Rich Finley

1977–1979            One Day at a Time            Jerry Davenport            6 episodes

1978            Nowhere to Run            Spence            Television film

1978    Wild and Wooly            Sean

1978    Maude            Vernon            Episode: "Carol's Dilemma"

1978    Richie Brockelman, Private Eye            Stan Hollister            Episode: "A Title on the Door and a Carpet on the Floor"

1978            Husbands, Wives & Lovers  Dixon Carter Fielding            10 episodes

1978    Rhoda            Dr. Murray Berger            Episode: "Rhoda vs. Ida"

1979    Good Times   A.J. Rutherford            Episode: "House Hunting"

1979    Dallas            Sloan            Episode: "The Red File: Part 2"

1979    The Seeding of Sarah Burns            Alex Lovell            Television film

1979    The Runaways            Avery            Episode: "48 Hours to Live"

1979    The Miracle Worker            Captain Keller            Television film

1979    Topper            Stan Ogilvy

1979–1986            Trapper John, M.D.            Dr. Stanley Riverside II            151 episodes

1980    Here's Boomer            Dan            Episode: "Overboard"

1980    A Cry for Love            Fred            Television film

1981–1987            The Love Boat            Various roles     4 episodes

1986, 1987            Hotel            David Endicott / Dan Mason  2 episodes

1987    Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer            Charles Forester            Episode: "Lady Killer"

1987    Good Morning, Miss Bliss     Charlie Davis            Episode: "Pilot"

1987, 1994            Murder, She Wrote            Various roles     3 episodes

1988    Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace            Jason Sloan            Television film

1988            Shakedown on the Sunset Strip            Sgt. Gerber

1988    ABC Afterschool Special Mr. McNeil            Episode: "Tattle: When to Tell on a Friend"

1989–1990            Mancuso, F.B.I.            Dr. Paul Summers            3 episodes

1990            Matlock          Dr. Gilbert Lehman            Episode: "Nowhere to Turn"

1990    The Great Los Angeles Earthquake            Mayor Frank Baldwin            Television film

1991    Don't Touch My Daughter            Gordon

1991            Deception: A Mother's Secret  Peter Meyers

1991    The Legend of Prince Valiant            Lord Keller   2 episodes

1992    A House of Secrets and Lies      Dr. Hirsch            Television film

1996, 1997            Xena: Warrior Princess            Poseidon / Sisyphus            3 episodes