Sunday, May 21, 2023

Lew Palter obit

Lew Palter, ‘Titanic’ Actor and Longtime CalArts Teacher, Dies at 94

He worked alongside Judd Hirsch on 'Delvecchio,' played a Supreme Court justice in 'First Monday in October' and mentored Ed Harris, Don Cheadle, Cecily Strong and many others.

 

 He was not on the list.


Lew Palter, the veteran character actor and admired CalArts School of Theater faculty member who portrayed the department store magnate Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s Titanic, has died. He was 94.

Palter died May 21 of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Catherine Palter, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The New York native played one of the Supreme Court justices in First Monday in October (1981), starring Walter Matthau, Jill Clayburgh and Barnard Hughes, and he donned a robe for stints on The Flying Nun, Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law as well.

Plus, he portrayed an LAPD detective on the 1976-77 CBS series Delvecchio, starring Judd Hirsch.

Palter joined CalArts in 1971 and served as an acting teacher and director at the Santa Clarita school until his retirement in 2013, but he also conducted private workshops and taught around the country and around the world, including in Edinburgh and at Carnegie Mellon and UCLA.

“Lew loved the craft of acting and taught his students to do the same. He fostered deep curiosity, care, intellect and humor in every scene, play and class,” CalArts School of Theater Dean Travis Preston said in a statement. “He had the utmost respect of his students and encouraged all to find truth in their work and lives.”

His thousands of students over the years included Ed Harris, Don Cheadle and Cecily Strong, whom he encouraged to try out for the improv group The Groundlings on the way to her breakout gig on Saturday Night Live.

“As a teacher, he seemed to have truly changed people’s lives,” his daughter said.

Leon Louis Palter was born on Nov. 3, 1928. He graduated from Tufts University, then earned his master’s degree from Alfred University and his Ph.D. in theater from Northwestern University. In between, he enlisted and served in the U.S. Army.

Palter acted in and directed plays off-Broadway before joining the Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1960s. He then made his onscreen debut on a 1967 episode of NBC’s Run for Your Life and appeared on It Takes a Thief, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and Mission: Impossible before the decade was done.

In Titanic (1997), Palter as Isidor and Elsa Raven as his wife, Ida, memorably appear in a montage embracing on a bed in their stateroom as the water rushes in and the ship’s string quartet plays the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.”

Isidor, who co-owned Macy’s with his brother, and Ida were two of the wealthiest passengers to perish on the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. He refused to board a lifeboat when the ship was sinking because there were women and children who had yet to get on one, and his wife would not leave without him.

(Wendy Rush, the wife of Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO who died last week while piloting the submersible that imploded during a dive to the Titanic wreckage, is a great-great-granddaughter of the Strauses.)

Palter was the third actor in a film about the tragedy to play Isidor, following Roy Gordon in the Jean Negulesco-directed Titanic (1953) and Meier Tzelniker in Roy Ward Baker’s A Night to Remember (1958).

His acting résumé also included the 1971 film The Steagle and installments of The Doris Day Show, Columbo, The Brady Bunch, Baretta, The Waltons, Cagney & Lacey and The A-Team.

Palter also directed the comedy Nuts for the Los Angeles Stage Company for years before it was adapted for the 1987 film that starred and was produced by Barbra Streisand.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his grandchildren, Sam, Tessa and Miranda.

His wife of 64 years, actress Nancy Vawter, died in November 2020. Catherine Palter said her mom’s agent had put her up for the part of Ida in Titanic but was told producers were “looking for a different type of actress.” He played the ancestor to Stockton Rush’s wife.

Actor

 

    In Confidence (2018)

    In Confidence

        Lou

        Short

        2018

 

The Ministry of Paul (1991)

Animated Stories from the New Testament

 

    Rabbi (voice)

 

    TV Series

 

    2001

 

Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart, and Frances Fisher in Titanic (1997)

Titanic

 

    Isidor Straus

 

    1997

 

Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997)

Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy

 

    Moderator

 

    TV Movie

 

    1997

 

Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994)

Alien Nation: Dark Horizon

 

    Store OwnerFlorist

 

    TV Movie

 

    1994

 

Dabney Coleman in Madman of the People (1994)

Madman of the People

 

    Vetch

 

    TV Series

 

    1994

 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Linda Kelsey, and Doug Sheehan in Day by Day (1988)

Day by Day

 

    Lew

 

    TV Series

 

    1989

 

Glory Years (1987)

Glory Years

 

    Mr. Stein

 

    TV Movie

 

    1987

 

L.A. Law (1986)

L.A. Law

 

    Judge Leon Ruben

 

    TV Series

 

    1986–1987

 

James Woods and Yaphet Kotto in Badge of the Assassin (1985)

Badge of the Assassin

 

    Judge Greenfield

 

    TV Movie

 

    1985

 

Robert Clohessy, Michael Warren, and Bruce Weitz in Hill Street Blues (1981)

Hill Street Blues

 

    Judge Goodman

 

    TV Series

 

    1985

 

George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz in The A-Team (1983)

The A-Team

 

    Desk Sergeant

 

    TV Series

 

    1983

 

Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless in Cagney & Lacey (1981)

Cagney & Lacey

 

    Bob Fisher

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

Deborah Van Valkenburgh in Too Close for Comfort (1980)

Too Close for Comfort

 

    Benny DeFranco

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

Elizabeth Montgomery and Elliott Gould in The Rules of Marriage (1982)

The Rules of Marriage

 

    Max Fine

 

    TV Movie

 

    1982

 

Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in Bosom Buddies (1980)

Bosom Buddies

 

    Mario

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

Behind the Screen

 

    TV Series

 

    1981

 

First Monday in October (1981)

First Monday in October

 

    Justice Benjamin Halperin

 

    1981

 

The Waltons (1972)

The Waltons

 

    Personnell Director

 

    TV Series

 

    1981

 

Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk (1977)

The Incredible Hulk

 

    Storekeeper

 

    TV Series

 

    1980

 

Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)

Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop

 

    Ed Fernandez

 

    TV Movie

 

    1980

 

Billy Crystal, Katherine Helmond, Roscoe Lee Browne, Cathryn Damon, Jay Johnson, Robert Mandan, Richard Mulligan, and Arthur Peterson in Soap (1977)

Soap

 

    Claude

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

 

    Mancino

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Delvecchio

 

    Det. ClarkClarkClarke

 

    TV Series

 

    1976–1977

 

Dennis Weaver in McCloud (1970)

McCloud

 

    Hotel ClerkCab DriverBurton Rill

 

    TV Series

 

    1971–1977

 

Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977)

Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?

 

    Munroe

 

    TV Movie

 

    1977

 

Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours (1976)

Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours

 

    Jack

 

    TV Movie

 

    1976

 

The Bionic Woman (1976)

The Bionic Woman

 

    Announcer

 

    TV Series

 

    1976

 

Robert Blake in Baretta (1975)

Baretta

 

    CharlieGrocer

 

    TV Series

 

    1975–1976

 

Alex Rocco in Three for the Road (1975)

Three for the Road

 

    TV Series

 

    1975

 

Doctors' Hospital (1975)

Doctors' Hospital

 

    Dr. Senker

 

    TV Series

 

    1975

 

Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in McMillan & Wife (1971)

McMillan & Wife

 

    CabbieFlorist

 

    TV Series

 

    1975

 

David McCallum in The Invisible Man (1975)

The Invisible Man

 

    Motel Clerk

 

    TV Series

 

    1975

 

The Law (1975)

The Law

 

    Kendall

 

    TV Mini Series

 

    1975

 

Lee Majors in The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)

The Six Million Dollar Man

 

    Cab Driver

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Kojak (1973)

Kojak

 

    Mr. Green

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Eve Plumb, Florence Henderson, Susan Olsen, Robert Reed, Ann B. Davis, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, and Barry Williams in The Brady Bunch (1969)

The Brady Bunch

 

    Mr. Gronsky

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Peter Falk in Columbo (1971)

Columbo

 

    Lab Technician

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy in Griff (1973)

Griff

 

    Art Waco

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Raymond Burr and Barbara Sigel in Ironside (1967)

Ironside

 

    Tony the Bartender

 

    TV Series

 

    1974

 

Here's Lucy (1968)

Here's Lucy

 

    Mr. Patrick

 

    TV Series

 

    1973

 

The F.B.I. (1965)

The F.B.I.

 

    John Nelson

 

    TV Series

 

    1972

 

Lieutenant Schuster's Wife (1972)

Lieutenant Schuster's Wife

 

    Guido

 

    TV Movie

 

    1972

 

The Doris Day Show (1968)

The Doris Day Show

 

    Waiter LuigiPietro

 

    TV Series

 

    1971

 

The Steagle (1971)

The Steagle

 

    Older Man

 

    1971

 

Kim Richards, Juliet Mills, David Doremus, Trent Lehman, and Richard Long in Nanny and the Professor (1970)

Nanny and the Professor

 

    Delivery Man

 

    TV Series

 

    1970

 

Sally Field in The Flying Nun (1967)

The Flying Nun

 

    Pedro FeroneJudgePepe ...

 

    TV Series

 

    1967–1970

 

Leif Erickson, Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow, Cameron Mitchell, and Mark Slade in The High Chaparral (1967)

The High Chaparral

 

    Jorge

 

    TV Series

 

    1970

 

Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris in Mission: Impossible (1966)

Mission: Impossible

 

    Lawyer (uncredited)

 

    TV Series

 

    1969

 

James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Dennis Weaver in Gunsmoke (1955)

Gunsmoke

 

    Hillman

 

    TV Series

 

    1968

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

 

    Mr. Mackowitz

 

    TV Series

 

    1968

 

James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)

The Virginian

 

    Poker Player

 

    TV Series

 

    1968

 

It Takes a Thief (1968)

It Takes a Thief

 

    Keating

 

    TV Series

 

    1968

 

Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life (1965)

Run for Your Life

 

    1st Trucker

 

    TV Series

 

    1967

 

No comments:

Post a Comment