Donald Moffat

Donald Moffat (December 26, 1930 – December 20, 2018) was a British-American actor with a decades-long career in film and stage in the United States.

Moffat began his acting career on- and off-Broadway, which included appearances in The Wild Duck and Right You Are If You Think You Are, earning Tony Award nominations for both, as well as Painting Churches, for which he received an Obie Award. Moffat also appeared in several feature films, including The Thing (1982), The Right Stuff (1983), and in a rare leading role on film, as a tenuously recovering alcoholic in On the Nickel (1980). Moffat also made guest appearances in numerous television series, including such shows as Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and The West Wing. He also was a principal in the 1993 TV miniseries Tales of the City.

Early life Moffat was born on December 26, 1930, in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary (née Smith) and Walter George Moffat, an insurance agent. His father was Scottish. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes. After completing his studies at the local King Edward VI School and a period of national service in the Army from 1949 to 1951, Moffat trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Career Stage Moffat began his career as a stage actor in London and New York City. His first work was at the Old Vic Theatre Company in London.

After moving to the United States, Moffat worked as a bartender and a lumberjack in Oregon, his wife's home state. "After six months," he said, "I realized that I was an actor and I would always be an actor. And an actor must act. So I started acting again." His first acting job in the United States was in Princeton, New Jersey. He worked as a carpenter, and his wife did ironing to supplement his $25-per-week pay.

He was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Play for his work in Play Memory (1984) and for Outstanding Featured Actor in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1986) with Jason Robards. He won an Obie for Painting Churches. In 1998, he was nominated for a Gemini Award for his performance as attorney Joe Ruah in the CBC miniseries The Sleep Room. He also appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals (as Ulysses S. Grant), The Heiress, The Cherry Orchard, Much Ado About Nothing, The School for Scandal, and Hamlet.

Film Among Moffat's best-known film roles are as Lyndon B. Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983), the U.S. president in Clear and Present Danger, and as Garry, the station commander in The Thing. Lars Lundstrom in the ABC drama The New Land, and Rem in the CBS science-fiction series Logan's Run. He also appeared in Columbo, The West Wing, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Tales of the City, in which his performance as dying executive Edgar Halcyon earned him many new fans. One of his final roles was as Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in the HBO movie, 61*.

Personal life Moffat married actress Anne Murray in 1954; Rachel, Rachel (1968) as Niall Cameron R. P. M. (1970) as Perry Howard The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) as Manning The Call of the Wild (1976) as Simpson The Waltons (1977) as Mr. Morgan Family (1977) as Philip Raskin Exo-Man (1977) as Wallace Rogers Music Box (1989) as Harry Talbot Cookie's Fortune (1999) as Jack Palmer