Bill Macy
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Wolf Martin Garber (May 18, 1922 – October 17, 2019), known professionally as Bill Macy, was an American television, film and stage actor known for his role in the CBS television series Maude (1972–1978).
Early life
[edit]Bill Macy was born Wolf Martin Garber on May 18, 1922, in Revere, Massachusetts, the son of Mollie (née Friedopfer; 1889–1986) and Michael Garber (1884–1974), a manufacturer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He was raised Jewish in the East Flatbush section of New York, New York. After graduating from Samuel J. Tilden High School he served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946 with the 594th Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment, stationed in the Philippines, New Guinea and Japan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
He worked as a cab driver for a decade before being cast as Walter Matthau's understudy in Once More, with Feeling on Broadway in 1958. He portrayed a cab driver on the soap opera The Edge of Night in 1966.
Macy was an original cast member of the 1969–1972 Off-Broadway sensation Oh! Calcutta!,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> performing in the show from 1969 to 1971.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> He later appeared in the 1972 movie version of the musical.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Of appearing fully nude with the rest of the cast in the stage show, he said, "The nudity didn't bother me. I'm from Brooklyn."<ref name=":1" />
Macy performed on the P. D. Q. Bach album The Stoned Guest (1970).
Television
[edit]Appreciating Macy's comedic skills off Broadway, Norman Lear brought him to Hollywood, where he first got a small part as a police officer in All in the Family. He was cast in the role of Walter Findlay, the husband of the title character on the 1970s television sitcom Maude, starring Bea Arthur. The show ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1978.<ref name=":0" />
Strangers on the street often called him "Mr. Maude", consoling him for having such a difficult wife. "I used to tell them that people like that really existed," Macy explained.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1975, Macy and Samantha Harper Macy appeared on the game show Tattletales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1986, Macy was a guest on the fourth episode of L.A. Law, playing an older man whose young wife wants a music career. Also that year he guest starred in an episode of Highway to Heaven, called Cindy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Macy appeared in the television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) as banker Richard Wilson. He appeared on The Facts of Life in a 1988 episode. He occasionally appeared on Seinfeld as one of the residents of the Florida retirement community where Jerry Seinfeld's parents lived. Macy made a guest appearance as a patient on Chicago Hope and as an aging gambler on the series Las Vegas. Macy's last television role occurred in a 2010 episode of Jada Pinkett Smith's series Hawthorne.<ref name=":1" />
Film
[edit]Macy appeared as the jury foreman in The Producers in 1967, with the memorable sole line "We find the defendants incredibly guilty". Other memorable roles include the co-inventor of the "Opti-Grab" in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk and as the head television writer in My Favourite Year (1982).
Other film credits included roles in Death at Love House (1976), The Late Show (1977), Serial (1980), Movers & Shakers (1985), Bad Medicine (1985), Tales from the Darkside (1985 - "Lifebomb" episode), Sibling Rivalry (1990), The Doctor (1991), Me Myself & I (1992), Analyze This (1999), Surviving Christmas (2004), The Holiday (2006), and Mr. Woodcock (2007).<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
[edit]Macy met his future wife, Samantha Harper, on the set of Oh! Calcutta! in 1969.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> They married in 1975.<ref name=":2" />
Macy died on October 17, 2019, at the age of 97; no cause was given.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Producers | Jury Foreman | Uncredited |
| 1972 | Oh! Calcutta! | Monte / Mute Physician | |
| 1977 | The Late Show | Charlie Hatter | |
| 1979 | The Jerk | Stan Fox | |
| 1980 | Serial | Sam | |
| 1982 | My Favorite Year | Sy Benson | |
| 1985 | Movers & Shakers | Sid Spokane | |
| 1985 | Bad Medicine | Dr. Gerald Marx | |
| 1988 | The Law & Harry McGraw | Marvin Gershowitz | Episode: "Waiting Game" |
| 1990 | Sibling Rivalry | Pat | |
| 1991 | The Doctor | Al Cade | |
| 1992 | Me Myself & I | Sydney | |
| 1999 | Analyze This | Dr. Isaac Sobel | |
| 2004 | Surviving Christmas | Doo-Dah | |
| 2006 | The Holiday | Ernie | |
| 2007 | Mr. Woodcock | Mr. Woodcock's Dad |
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- 1922 births
- 2019 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- People from Revere, Massachusetts
- American male musical theatre actors
- American television personalities
- Place of death missing
- Jewish American male actors
- Male actors from Massachusetts
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American Jews