Louis Zorich

Louis Zorich (February 12, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor and musician who performed on stage, in films, and television. In film, he appeared in Fiddler on the Roof. On television, he may be best known for portraying sporting goods salesman Burt Buchman, Paul Buchman's father, on the NBC series Mad About You from 1993 to 1999. the son of Croatian immigrants. He attended Earle Elementary School before going on to attend Roosevelt University and Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) in his hometown of Chicago. Louis's nephew, Chris Zorich, played professional football.

Zorich served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Theatre Zorich appeared in two productions, in Inherit The Wind (1958) and My Three Angels (1959), at the Crest Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Zorich made his Broadway debut in 1961 in Becket starring Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn. In 1969, he played a "venal Italian cardinal" in Hadrian VII where he was nominated for a Tony Award. They operated the theater for 18 years.

In the 1976 revival of They Knew What They Wanted, Zorich played middle-aged Napa Valley grape farmer Tony and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Zorich said in 1993, "Actors are by nature introverted, sensitive people, who can lead behind their characters. Every time I walk on that stage I still get nervous." and a cab dispatcher in the comedy For Pete's Sake (1974).

In The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Zorich played a Greek restaurant owner. Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "Louis Zorich is funny as a nice, helpful, harassed coffee-shop owner who feeds the Muppets in their lean days..." In a TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman (1985), he played Ben, the older brother of Willy Loman. Zorich appeared as a millionaire in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) with Steve Martin, and played a shady murder victim in the TV crime drama series Columbo.

He co-starred in the critically acclaimed comedy TV series Brooklyn Bridge as family patriarch Jules Berger. In a 1993 interview, Zorich was asked which assignment best matched his personality. He said, "I think it would be Jules Bergen, the grandfather I played in Brooklyn Bridge. By nature, I'm rather easygoing and tend to let thing slide." Zorich mentioned that the series "afforded me the type of visibility that you can't always get in the theater..."

Personal life Zorich was married to Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis for 56 years, from 1962 until his death. They had three children together. He died at his Manhattan apartment at the age of 93 on January 30, 2018.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1966 Gamera, the Giant Monster Russian Ambassador 1968 What's So Bad About Feeling Good? Uncredited1968 Coogan's Bluff Taxi Driver 1969 Popi Penebaz 1971 Cold Turkey Douglas Truesdale Uncredited1971 They Might Be Giants 2nd Sanitation Man 1971 Fiddler on the Roof Constable 1971 Made for Each Other Pandora's Father 1973 The Don Is Dead Mitch DiMorra 1974 The Rehearsal 1974 For Pete's Sake Nick 1974 Newman's Law Frank Lo Falcone 1974 Sunday in the Country Dinelli 1976 W.C. Fields and Me Gene Fowler 1977 A Good Dissonance Like a Man George W. Chadwick 1977 The Other Side of Midnight Demonides 1980 The Changeling Stewart Adler Uncredited1980 Up the Academy Sheik Amier 1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan Pete 1985 Walls of Glass Lerner 1986 Club Paradise Swiss Businessman 1986 Where Are the Children? Kragopoulos 1988 Cheap Shots Louie Constantine 1988 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Greek Millionaire 1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway Mindy 1991 City of Hope Mayor Baci 1991 Missing Pieces Ochenko 1997 Commandments Rudy Warner 1997 Kiss & Tell Louis 1998 A Fish in the Bathtub Morris 1999 Joe the King Judge 2001 Friends & Family Marvin Levine 2004 A Hole in One Sammy 2007 Running Funny Stan 2009 Run It Angelo 2011 Detachment Grandpa 2011 A Bird of the Air Stowalski 2011 The Talk Man Lou 2015 Emily & Tim Tim Hanratty Segment: "Attachment"2016 No Pay, Nudity Lester's Father (final film role)

Television