Douglas Rowe obit

Obituary: Doug Rowe

He was not on the list.

1938 — May 13, 2023

Douglas Rowe, 85, a retired actor/director, golfer, and lifelong fisherman and baseball fan, passed away peacefully at Asante Medical Center in Medford on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Doug was born in Patterson, New Jersey, and grew up in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He then attended Bates College in Maine where he caught the acting bug and learned to play golf for the first time.

After a stint in the Army Reserves, Doug joined Screen Actor’s Guild and Actor’s Equity as the 1,000th member; living in New York, acting and watching Jackie Robinson play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, so did Doug, to continue watching his favorite team and further pursue his acting career in Hollywood.

Over the next three decades he would appear in numerous TV shows, movies, and commercials, while also serving two stints as the Artistic Director of the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California starting in the 1960s. This is where he met many lifelong friends, including the love of his life, Catherine, when he cast her as “Dream Girl” in a play he was directing. They were married on the banks of the Deschutes River, Oregon, in 1980.

Their two sons, Bill and Jackson, were the light of his life. In 1996, Doug received an offer to play Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and the family moved to Oregon.

Doug continued to serve the arts community on many levels, acting, doing readings, directing several plays including at Ashland High School, and serving as director of the Ashland New Plays Festival. He also appeared in numerous local films and other projects. He even directed his own son Jackson as John Proctor in “The Crucible” and in “Our Town” at AHS, and acted alongside both of his boys on different film projects.

He was so very proud of his family. His wife Catherine became a successful real estate broker once their sons were in high school, and both boys pursued careers in the two things Doug loved most: baseball and filmmaking. He watched his son Bill win a College World Series with Oregon State University in 2006, and Jackson became a assistant director who just finished his fifth project with HBO called “The Sympathizer.”

In his later years, Doug experienced several health issues that slowed him down, but you could never keep him from the golf course. He also enjoyed pheasant hunting with his son Bill and his beloved English Setter Shiloh. Even after multiple surgeries and procedures, the goal of getting back out on the golf course and hunting and fishing again was always his main motivation. During the day, he could be found doing crosswords, feeding birds or mowing the lawn, and in the evenings he was usually on the porch with a glass of wine, admiring the last hours of sunlight bathing the local mountains.

He had many friends, was much loved, and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Actor

Brit Marling in The OA (2016)

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Uncle Carl

2019

1 episode

 

Peter Wickliffe in The Bullet of Time (2018)

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5.6

Short

Professor

2018

 

Besetment (2017)

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3.7

Pastor Ben Hastings

2017

 

The Reading (2016)

The Reading

Arthur Morgan

2016

 

Sam Daly in Black Road (2016)

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4.0

Grandpa

2016

 

Tom Skerritt, Shirley Knight, Catherine E. Coulson, Zena Grey, Brent Hinkley, Sam Daly, Danforth Comins, and Mimi Dryland in Redwood Highway (2013)

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6.3

Sid

2013

 

Steve Zahn and Alex Frost in Calvin Marshall (2009)

Calvin Marshall

5.8

Skeeter (as Doug Rowe)

2009

 

Stephanie's Image (2009)

Stephanie's Image

5.4

Stephanie's Uncle

2009

 

Kimberley Kates in Babysitter Wanted (2007)

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Professor

2007

 

Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham in Gilmore Girls (2000)

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8.2

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AttorneyJim McNally

2006–2007

2 episodes

 

Conversations with God (2006)

Conversations with God

6.5

Harry (as Doug Rowe)

2006

 

Raspberry Heaven (2004)

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7.3

Dr. Nathan Andrews

2004

 

Melina Kanakaredes, Concetta Tomei, Paula Cale, Mike Farrell, and Seth Peterson in Providence (1999)

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6.8

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3 episodes

 

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6.1

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1998

1 episode

 

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1997

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1995

 

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7.6

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1995

3 episodes

 

Melrose Place (1992)

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6.0

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Neighbor (as Doug Rowe)

1995

1 episode

 

Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, Ming-Na Wen, Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Alex Kingston, Eriq La Salle, Kellie Martin, Paul McCrane, Michael Michele, Erik Palladino, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjic in ER (1994)

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1994

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Tony Shalhoub, Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Crystal Bernard, and Tim Daly in Wings (1990)

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1994

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1994

 

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Viper

5.9

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1994

1 episode

 

No More Dirty Deals (1993)

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3.2

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1993

 

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1993

 

Northern Exposure (1990)

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1992

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1992

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1991

 

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1991

 

To My Daughter (1990)

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1990

 

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1990

 

The Incident (1990)

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Incident at Dark River (1989)

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1988

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Run Till You Fall (1988)

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1988

 

Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)

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1988

 

In the Mood (1987)

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1987

 

Appointment with Fear (1985)

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1985

 

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1980–1985

3 episodes

 

Scandal Sheet (1985)

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(as Doug Rowe)

1985

 

Newhart (1982)

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1984

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The Mississippi (1982)

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8.2

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1983

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TV Series

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1982

1 episode

 

Hart to Hart (1979)

Hart to Hart

6.7

TV Series

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1980

1 episode

 

Steve Guttenberg in Billy (1979)

Billy

5.2

TV Series

Hal

1979

1 episode

 

Frankie & Annette: The Second Time Around

6.2

TV Movie

Bradley Wickett (as Doug Rowe)

1978

 

Alan Alda, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Burghoff, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, and Loretta Swit in M*A*S*H (1972)

M*A*S*H

8.5

TV Series

Aylesworth (as Doug Rowe)

1977

1 episode

 

Spencer's Pilots (1976)

Spencer's Pilots

6.8

TV Series

Deputy (as Doug Rowe)

1976

1 episode

 

Emergency! (1972)

Emergency!

7.9

TV Series

John Keef (as Doug Rowe)

1973

1 episode

 

Fred Williamson, Don Pedro Colley, and D'Urville Martin in The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)

The Legend of Nigger Charley

5.9

Dewey Lyons (as Doug Rowe)

1972

 

Nanny and the Professor (1970)

Nanny and the Professor

7.2

TV Series

Photographer (as Doug Rowe)

1970

1 episode

 

Michael Constantine, Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, and Karen Valentine in Room 222 (1969)

Room 222

7.7

TV Series

Mr. Jenkins (as Doug Rowe)

1970

1 episode

 

Raquel Welch in Flareup (1969)

Flareup

4.9

Gas Station Attendant (as Doug Rowe)

1969

 

Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in The Wild Wild West (1965)

The Wild Wild West

8.1

TV Series

Attendant (as Doug Rowe)

1967

1 episode

 

Don Adams in Get Smart (1965)

Get Smart

8.2

TV Series

Interviewer (as Doug Rowe)

1967

1 episode

 

Gary Lockwood in The Lieutenant (1963)

The Lieutenant

8.2

TV Series

Reporter (as Doug Rowe)

1963

1 episode

 

Producer

Alone

Short

associate producer

2012