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A couple weeks ago, durable character actor Harold Gould died. He was eighty-six.
Gould held a PhD in Theatre and was a Professor in speech and drama at Cornell University. In the 1950s, in his thirties, he began to pursue off-Broadway roles, seeking to do rather than only teach. By the 1960s, Harold had retired from academia and became a full-time professional actor. He had guest-starring roles on a couple dozen TV series in the '60s, everything from "The Twilight Zone" and "Perry Mason" to "The Virginian" and "The Wild Wild West" to "Route 66" and "The Fugitive" to "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Get Smart". His tall, thin frame and quickly graying hair lent to his playing many a father (and later grandfather), General, Sheriff, Judge and other authority figures, in dramas and comedies. He had a few small roles in films in the '60s, including Harper (1965) and Inside Daisy Clover (1965), but it was television that paid his bills and made his face and voice so recognizable.
His TV career still flourished in the 1970s, guesting on the likes of "The Rockford Files", "Hawaii Five-O", "Mannix", "The Streets of San Francisco", "Ironside" and "The Love Boat". He had recurring roles on both "Soap" and playing "Rhoda" Morgenstern's father on that popular "Mary Tyler Moore Show" spin-off. As a point of trivia, he was the original Mr. Howard Cunningham on the "Love, American Style" episode that gave rise to "Happy Days", where Tom Bosley portrayed the patriarch for eleven seasons. But the 1970s saw Gould's film career take off, most crucially his elegant grifter Kid Twist in the classic The Sting (1973). After that indelible performance he got highlighted roles in Woody Allen's Love & Death (1975), Billy Wilder's re-make of The Front Page (1974), Mel Brooks' Silent Movie (1976), and the disaster movie spoof The Big Bus (1976).
While he would continue to work in film for the next three decades, including Seems Like Old Times (1980), Romero (1989), Patch Adams (1998), The Master of Disguise (2002), and the Lindsay Lohan re-make of Freaky Friday (2003), it was television where he worked constantly. From "St. Elsewhere" and "L.A. Law" to "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and "Touched by an Angel", from "Webster" and "Night Court" to "The King of Queens" and "Felicity" and even "Nip/Tuck", he did a little bit of everything in the broadcast firmament. The most high-profile role in this second half of Gould's career was the recurring gig of romantic interest to Betty White's Rose on "The Golden Girls".
All in all, he appeared on over three hundred TV episodes (without ever being a series regular), and about twenty feature films. He also continued to perform on the stage throughout his career, around a hundred different major and minor productions.
"That horse is gonna run second!"
R.I.P., Harry
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
Last edited by Holden Pike; 09-24-10 at 09:20 AM.
He's been in so many shows over the years, I'd be hard pressed to say which one I remember him in the most... he was a great actor and I always enjoyed his performances... 
