Norman Lloyd

Norman Nathan Lloyd (; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including theatre, radio, television, and film, with a career that started in 1923. Lloyd's final film, Trainwreck, was released in 2015 after he turned 100. Lloyd remained the oldest-living male actor from Classic Hollywood until his death in 2021.

In the 1930s, he apprenticed with Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre and worked with such influential groups as the Federal Theatre Project's Living Newspaper unit, the Mercury Theatre, and the Group Theatre. Lloyd's long professional association with Alfred Hitchcock began with his performance portraying a fifth columnist in the film Saboteur (1942). He also appeared in Spellbound (1945) and was a producer of Hitchcock's anthology television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Lloyd directed and produced episodic television throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. As an actor, he appeared in over 60 films and television shows, with his roles including Bodalink in Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (1952), Mr. Nolan in Dead Poets Society (1989), and Mr. Letterblair in The Age of Innocence (1993). In the 1980s, Lloyd gained a new generation of fans for playing Dr. Daniel Auschlander, one of the starring roles on the medical drama St. Elsewhere.

Early life and theatre

Lloyd was born Norman Nathan Perlmutter on November 8, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey. His family was Jewish and lived in New York City. His father, Max Perlmutter, was an accountant and proprietor of a furniture store. His mother, Sadie Horowitz Perlmutter, was a bookkeeper She had a good voice and a lifelong interest in the theatre, and she took her young son to singing and dancing lessons. He had two sisters, Ruth and Janice, who survived her brother by four months. Lloyd became a child performer, appearing at vaudeville benefits and women's clubs, and was a professional by the age of nine. directed by Elia Kazan. One of the company members was Peggy Craven, who would later become Lloyd's wife.

Losey brought Lloyd into the Federal Theatre Project — which Lloyd called "one of the great theaters of all time" — and its Living Newspapers, Released on Columbia Masterworks Records in 1939, the recording was reissued on CD in 1998.

Lloyd played the role of Johnny Appleseed in Everywhere I Roam (1938), a play by Arnold Sundgaard "It was a lovely experience, although the play failed," Lloyd recalled. "For me, it was a success; in those days, before the Tony Awards, the critics' Ten Best Performers list at the end of the year was the greatest recognition. For my performance, I was selected to be on the list by the critics." Welles asked the actors to stay a few more weeks as he put together another film project, but Lloyd was ill-advised Three years later he was cast by French director Jean Renoir to portray the malicious, dull-witted character Finley in The Southerner, which was the fourth film of six productions that Renoir directed in the 1940s while living in the United States. After a few more villainous screen roles, Lloyd then worked behind the camera as an assistant on Lewis Milestone's Arch of Triumph (1948). Director Peter Weir was living in Australia and had not seen St. Elsewhere. Wings; The Practice; and Civil Wars. although he admitted he was slightly put off by the film's raunchy content. He is the subject of the documentary Who Is Norman Lloyd?, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on September 1, 2007. In 2010, he guest-starred in an episode of ABC's Modern Family. On December 5, 2010, he presented An Evening with Norman Lloyd at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, California, where he spoke about his career and answered questions from the audience.

Personal life and death

On June 29, 1936, Lloyd married stage actress Peggy Craven. Together, they had two children: Michael, and actress Josie, who died the year before Lloyd. Lloyd began practicing his lifelong hobby of tennis at the age of 8. "With the application and time I have devoted to it, I should have been a reigning World Champion", he said in a 2000 interview. His opponents included Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Cotten, and Spencer Tracy. Lloyd continued to play twice a week until July 2015, when he had a fall. He stopped driving in 2014 at Michael's insistence.

Lloyd turned 100 on November 8, 2014. Two of his longtime friends and understudies, Ed Begley Jr. and Howie Mandel (both of whom co-starred with Lloyd on St. Elsewhere), reflected on his centenarian celebration; Begley, Jr. said: "I [have] worked with Norman Lloyd the actor and Norman Lloyd the director, and no one [has] informed me better on the art of storytelling than that talented man. He is a constant inspiration, and my eternal friend"; Mandel added, "I love Norman Lloyd. He is a legend. I have spent hours like a little kid while he regaled us with stories of Hitchcock. He teaches, he entertains. He is a legend."

On October 25, 2017, two weeks before his 103rd birthday, Lloyd attended Game 2 of the 2017 World Series in Los Angeles. Ninety-one years earlier, at the age of 11, he attended Game 1 of the 1926 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Lloyd died in his sleep at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on May 11, 2021, at the age of 106.

Cultural references In Me and Orson Welles (2008), Richard Linklater's period drama set in the days surrounding the premiere of the Mercury Theatre's production of Caesar, Lloyd is portrayed by Leo Bill.

Selected theatre credits As actor Date Title Role Theatre Notes October 26, 1932 – 1933 Liliom Stretcher bearer (uncredited) Civic Repertory Theatre, New York City Directed by Eva Le Gallienne December 12, 1932 – 1933 Alice in Wonderland 5 of Clubs (as Mr. Lloyd) Civic Repertory Theatre, New York City Directed by Eva Le Gallienne 1933 A Secret Life, The Children's Tragedy, Naked, Fear, The Armored Train, The Call of Life, The Sowers Various The New School for Social Research, New York City Apprentice Theatre, executive director May Sarton 1935 School for Wives Peterborough Players, Peterborough, New Hampshire Summer stock July 24–October 20, 1936 Injunction Granted Clown Biltmore Theatre, New York City Living Newspaper, Federal Theatre Project; directed by Joseph Losey February 22–July 10, 1937 Power Angus J. Buttoncooper, the Consumer Ritz Theatre, New York City Living Newspaper, Federal Theatre Project; directed by Brett Warren November 11, 1937 – May 28, 1938 Caesar Cinna the Poet Mercury Theatre and National Theatre, New York City Debut of the Mercury Theatre; directed by Orson Welles January 1 – April 28, 1938 The Shoemaker's Holiday Roger, commonly called Hodge Mercury Theatre and National Theatre, New York City In repertory with Caesar; directed by Orson Welles April 12 – May 11, 1940 Medicine Show New Yorker Theatre, New York City Commercially produced Living Newspaper on health in the U.S. 1940 Pigeons and People Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, South Carolina September 3–27, 1941 Village Green Henry Miller Theatre, New York City February 4–13, 1943 Ask My Friend Sandy Sandy Biltmore Theatre, New York City December 25, 1950 – February 3, 1951 King Lear Fool National Theatre, New York City Directed by John Houseman 1954 Madame Will You Walk Dockweil Phoenix Theatre, New York City December 5, 2010 An Evening with Norman Lloyd Himself Colony Theatre, Burbank, California 1954 The Winslow Boy, Anniversary Waltz, Sabrina Fair, The Seven Year Itch, The Vacant Lot La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California July 13, 1940 The Listener's Playhouse "No Program Tonight, or The Director's Dilemma" June 1, 1941 Columbia Workshop "26 by Corwin: Appointment" July 12, 1943 Cavalcade of America "Soldier of the Cloth" May 24, 1945 Suspense "My Own Murderer" July 17, 1945 Columbia Presents Corwin Clerk "The Undecided Molecule", verse story by Norman Corwin

Selected film and television credits As actor Film Year Title Role Notes 1942 Saboteur Frank Fry 1945 The Southerner Finley The Unseen Jasper Goodwin FM Carl Billings 1980 The Nude Bomb Carruthers 1993 The Age of Innocence Mr. Letterblair 2014 Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles Himself Documentary A Place for Heroes Older Robert 2015 Trainwreck Norman Final acting role 2018 The Great Buster: A Celebration Himself Documentary 2019 Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies Himself Documentary 2021 Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age Himself Documentary (Posthumous release) 2022 Romantic Mysticism: The Music of Billy Goldenberg Himself Documentary (Posthumous release)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1956 The United States Steel Hour Francis Oberon Episode: "We Must Kill Toni" Kraft Television Theatre Andrew J. Fogarty1 Episode: "Paper Foxhole" Kraft Television Theatre Episode: "The Plunge" 1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1982 Quincy M.E. Cornelius Sumner Episode: "Stolen Tears" Gruen Playhouse (TV series) Director, "Dream Man", "A Boy with a Gun", "Bird of Prey", "For Life" Omnibus (TV series) Director, "Mr. Lincoln", five half-hour films 1974 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Special - Comedy or Drama Steambath 1985 Venice Film Festival Venice TV Prize - Special Mention Alfred Hitchcock Presents 2020 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Legacy of Cinema Limelight