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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. He 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 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. Completing his studies at the local King Edward VI School and 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 in order to supplement his $25 per week pay.

He joined APA (The Association of Producing Artists), a repertory company on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play in 1967 for his roles in revivals of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck and Pirandello's Right You Are If You Think You Are.

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, The Affair and Hamlet.

Film

Among Moffat's best-known film roles are as Lyndon B. Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983), the corrupt U.S. president in Clear and Present Danger, and as Garry, the station commander in The Thing.

Television

Moffat played Enos in the CBS western miniseries The Chisholms, 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*. Moffat's last role was as a judge in an episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury in 2005.

Personal life

Moffat married actress Anne Murray in 1954; they had a daughter, Wendy, and a son, Gabriel, before divorcing in 1968. He later married actress Gwen Arner.

Moffat died on December 20, 2018, in Sleepy Hollow, New York due to complications from a stroke, six days before his 88th birthday.

Selected TV and filmography

• The Battle of the River Plate (U.S. title Pursuit of the Graf Spee) (1956) as Swanston, Lookout, HMS Ajax (uncredited)
• Rachel, Rachel (1968) as Niall Cameron
• R. P. M. (1970) as Perry Howard
• The High Chaparral (1970) as Henry Simmons
• Mission Impossible (1971) as Alex Pierson
• Night Gallery (1971) "Pickman's Model" as Uncle George
• The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) as Manning
• Showdown (1973) as Art Williams
• Gunsmoke (1974) "The Foundling" (S19E18) as Joseph Graham
• The Terminal Man (1974) as Dr. Arthur McPherson
• Earthquake (1974) as Dr. Harvey Johnson
• The Call of the Wild (1976) as Simpson
• Ebony, Ivory & Jade (1976) as Ian Cabot
• The Waltons (1977) as Mr. Morgan
• Family (1977) as Philip Raskin
• Exo-Man (1977) as Wallace Rogers
• Logan's Run (1977–1978) as Rem
• Little House on the Prairie (1978) as Mr Mears (2 episodes)
• Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) as Harry Hopkins
• Land of No Return (1978) as Air Traffic Controller
• The Word (1978) as Henri Aubert
• Promises in the Dark (1979) as Dr. Walter McInerny
• On the Nickel (1980) as Sam
• Popeye (1980) as the Taxman
• The Chisholms CBS miniseries (1980) as Enos
• The Thing (1982) as M.T. Garry
• The Right Stuff (1983) as U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
• License to Kill (1984) as Webster
• Alamo Bay (1985) as Wally
• The Best of Times (1986) as the Colonel
• Monster in the Closet (1986) as General Franklin D. Turnbull
• The Bourne Identity (1988) as David Abbott; in the 2002 film version the role is re-imagined as Deputy Director Ward Abbott (played by Brian Cox)
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) as Chief Surgeon
• Far North (1988) as Uncle Dane
• L.A. Law (1989) as Judge Lawrence O'Neil
• Music Box (1989) as Harry Talbot'
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as Mr. McCoy
• Class Action (1991) as Quinn
• Regarding Henry (1991) as Charlie Cameron
• Babe Ruth (1991) as Jacob Ruppert
• Housesitter (1992) as George Davis
• Love, Cheat & Steal (1993) as Frank Harrington
• Clear and Present Danger (1994) as the fictional President Bennett
• Trapped in Paradise (1994) as Clifford Anderson
• The Evening Star (1996) as Hector Scott
• The Sleep Room (1998) as Joe Ruah
• Cookie's Fortune (1999) as Jack Palmer
• 61* (2001) as Ford Frick
• The West Wing (2003) as Talmidge "Tal" Cregg (C.J.'s Father)
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005) as a Judge (final appearance)

References

1. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (December 20, 2018). "Donald Moffat, 87, a Top Actor Who Thrived in Second Billings, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
2. ^ Glover, William (March 28, 1967). "He's Still Broke But Has Grown As Actor". The Danville Register. Associated Press. p. 9. Retrieved August 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Familiar Face". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
4. ^ "Waiting for Rem". San Antonio Express. August 25, 1977. p. 2B. Retrieved August 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Peikert, Mark (March 21, 2018). "Two-Time Tony Nominee Donald Moffat Dead at 87". Playbill. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
6. "Donald Moffat". Playbill. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
7. "1980s: Winners". OBIE Awards. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
8. Hannant, Larry (December 1999). "The Man Who Might Have Been: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Herbert Norman produced by Louise Lore and Gerry Flahive, The Sleep Room produced by Bernard Zukerman, The Un-Canadians produced by Joanne Smale (review)". Canadian Historical Review. 80 (4): 698–705.
9. Isherwood, Charles (May 13, 2002). "A Few Stout Individuals". Variety. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
10. Winer, Laurie (September 13, 1996). "Cruelty Forges a Shining 'Heiress'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
11. Loehlin, James N. (September 14, 2006). Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-5218-2593-1.
12. ^ Criscitiello, Alexa (December 20, 2018). "Award-Winning Actor and Director Donald Moffat Passes Away At Age 87". Broadway World. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
13. Bordman, Gerald (November 21, 1996). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-1950-9079-6.
14. Adams, Val (May 22, 1964). "C.B.S. Series Plans Part Of 'The Brig'; Play Will Be a Segment of 'Look Up and Live'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
15. ^ "Filmography for Donald Moffat". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
16. Terrace, pp. 185–186.
17. Terrace, p. 755.
18. Terrace, pp. 617–618.
19. ^ Lincoln, Ross (December 21, 2018). "Donald Moffat, 'The Right Stuff' and 'The Thing' Actor, Dies at 87". TheWrap. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
20. "The Battle of the River Plate". Trailers from Hell. July 22, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
21. Skelton, Scott (1999). Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-hours Tour. Syracuse University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780815627821. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
22. ^ "Donald Moffat List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
23. "Ebony, Ivory and Jade(1979)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
24. "L.A. Law; Donald Moffat: Judge Lawrence O'Neil". IMDb. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
25. "The Sleep Room (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

Bibliography

• Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.

External links

• Donald Moffat at IMDb
• Donald Moffat at the Internet Broadway Database
• Donald Moffat at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

• 1930 births
• 2018 deaths
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• English emigrants to the United States
• English male film actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• English people of Scottish descent
• American people of Scottish descent
• Male actors from Plymouth, Devon
• Actors from Totnes