Paxton Whitehead has been nominated for a Tony Award for his work on the revival of “Camelot” and has appeared in films such as the Rodney Dangerfield comedy “Back to School” and the hit 1990s sitcoms “Friends” and “Friends”. He is a comedy actor who played the most Starchy stuffed shirt. “Mad About You” died Friday in Arlington, Virginia. He is 85 years old.
His daughter, Alex Whitehead Gordon, said at the hospital the cause of death was complications from a fall.
Mr. Whitehead was an Englishman with an inflectional baritone voice who often drew humor from his sharp features and dignified demeanor. His comic characters were usually presented with subtly exaggerated versions of his own traits, which he did with seeming ease.
“He couldn’t help but be funny,” commentator Terry Dolan wrote for the Buffalo News in 1997, describing Mr. Whitehead’s attendance at the George Bernard Shaw Festival in Ontario. added. . he was just funny It happened naturally. “
For Whitehead, finding comedy was key to the role.
“You always have to find the core of the humor in the character. At least I like to do that. Some people say, ‘I like to find the good in him, even if he’s a villain.’ It’s like being there,” he told The Theater. 1997 Los Angeles Times.
One such character is Philip Barvey, a strict business school dean and nemesis of Mr. Dangerfield’s character Thornton Mellon in Back to School (1986). Mellon is a surly but successful businessman who visits Grand Lakes University to visit his struggling son, and is eventually enrolled after making a large donation.
Barvey dislikes Melon at first sight and tries her best to get him expelled, to little effect. Earlier in the film, he and Diane witness Mellon buying books for students in a college bookstore, and Barvey describes Mellon as “the world’s oldest living freshman and a sign of the decline of modern education.” A symbolic person,” he said.
Mellon interrupts Barbey’s class and goes on a date with the literature professor’s girlfriend, Diane, played by Sally Kellerman.
Mr. Whitehead imbued Barbey with pathos, and the character seemed irrepressible to be Killjoy, which added another layer to the humor. While out with free-spirited, poetry-loving Diane, Barvey suggested taking their relationship to the next level through a “merger,” adding that they would “incorporate if you wish.”
Mr. Whitehead’s stocky figure in Back to School served as the prototype for many sitcom roles that followed. He played a grumpy neighbor in “Mad About You,” a grumpy boss in “Friends,” and a grumpy headmaster at a prestigious school in “Frasier.”
He was also a prolific theater actor. He appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, including the revue Beyond the Fringe (1962-64) and the 1980 revival of Camelot, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of King Pellinore. rice field. musical. He played Sherlock Holmes opposite Glenn Close in 1978 and 1979’s 236 performances of Bloody Crosses at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
Mr. Whitehead’s roles, especially those on stage, were not necessarily comical. One change came in 1985 when he played the ambitious protagonist in San Diego’s Old Grove acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s Richard III.
“Comedy, tragedy, pathos, spectacle–all are swept away before this ferocious movement of Richard,” theater critic Welton Jones wrote in the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1985.
Frances Edward Paxton Whitehead was born on October 17, 1937 in Kent, England. His father, Charles, was a lawyer and his mother, Louise (Hunt) Whitehead, was a homemaker. According to his daughter, his family and friends have called him Paxton since he was a child.
He graduated from Rugby School in Warwickshire and later studied acting at the Weber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. His early work was with a touring company, and he sometimes put on a new play every week. In the late 1950s, he earned a job at the New York Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. The theater is now called the Royal Shakespeare Theater and is part of the Royal Shakespeare His Company.
“But I was the lowest of the lowest,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1992, after playing Shakespeare extras for a while before deciding to move to New York. (His mother was American, so he was allowed to work in America.)
His Broadway career took off quickly and has continued into the last few decades. He appeared in the original comedies “Noise Off” (1983-85) and “Lettis and Ravage” (1990), and in the revival of “My Fair Lady” (1993) as Colonel Pickering. , later starred as Henry Higgins. The Importance of Being Earnest” (2011), as Reverend Kanon Chasle.
In 1967, Mr. Whitehead became the artistic director of the Shaw Festival. He produced, starred in, or directed most of Shaw’s plays, attracted actors like Jessica Tandy to the festival’s productions, and in 1977 decided to return to acting.
His other films include Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986) starring Whoopi Goldberg. “Baby Boom” (1987) starring Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) starring Elijah Wood and Courtney B. Vance. His other television appearances include ‘Murder, She Wrote’, ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’, ‘The West Wing’, ‘Hart to Hart’ and ‘Caroline in the City’.
His marriage to actress Patricia Gage ended in divorce in 1986. The following year he married Katherine Robertson, who died in 2009.
In addition to the daughter with whom he lived in Arlington, he has a son Charles. His first spouse’s stepdaughter, Heather Whitehead. and four grandchildren.
Whitehead told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1986 that he usually prefers to act in comedies. “I’m more interested in comedy, and I actually take it much more seriously than tragedy,” he said.
“They laughed the last time I played a tragic part,” he added.
