Herb Edelman
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Herbert Edelman (5 November 1933, Brooklyn, New York – 21 July 1996, Woodland Hills, California) was an American actor. He was twice-nominated for an Emmy for his work on TV.
[edit] Biography
Before becoming an actor, Edelman studied to be a veterinarian at Cornell University, but he left during his first year. His other occupations included a journalist, a radio operator and announcer for the Armed Forces, and, after dropping out of Brooklyn College, a hotel manager. Edelman started acting in theater, where he performed in Barefoot in the Park; he played the same role in the 1967 movie. Edelman made appearances in many TV shows ( including "The Good Guys" with Bob Denver), movies, and TV movies over the years, but is probably best remembered for his recurring role as Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband Stan on the long-running sitcom The Golden Girls.
Edelman had an extensive television career that spanned three decades (even appearing on the 1970s sitcom Maude, his future co-star Bea Arthur's show), Love, American Style, St. Elsewhere and Murder She Wrote. He was married to soap opera actress Louise Sorel from 1964-1970. Edelman was romantically linked with actress Christina Pickles, with whom he costarred on St. Elsewhere during the mid-1980s.
Standing 6'5", prematurely bald and decidedly "ethnic", Herb Edelman had a long career as a character player of stage, screen and TV. He remains best known for his extensive work in the latter medium, generally in stints as a series regular or recurring character ("Welcome Back, Kotter"; "St. Elsewhere"; "Knots Landing"), very rarely as a lead. Edelman may be best recognized as Stanley Zbornak, the ne'er-do-well ex-husband of Bea Arthur's Dorothy on the hit sitcom "The Golden Girls" (NBC, 1985-92).
It is somewhat poignant to note that this nearly archetypal New Yorker grew up in Brooklyn's Coney Island with dreams of becoming a farmer. Edelman even attended Cornell University's School of Agriculture for six months before accepting his destiny. After a stint in the Army, he enrolled at Brooklyn College where he began acting. Dropping out of college and driving a cab to make ends meet, Edelman picked up a fateful fare--stage director Mike Nichols. Nichols cast him in his breakthrough Broadway role as the bewildered telephone repairman in Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" in 1963. Edelman would reprise the role in the 1967 film version, again working with young lead Robert Redford. Even while appearing on Broadway, he kept driving a taxi, often picking up theatergoers who had just seen him on stage. Only in New York. . . . Edelman fit so comfortably into playwright Simon's world that he resurfaced in the major supporting role of Murray the Cop in the film version of "The Odd Couple" (1968) and in a smaller part in "California Suite" (1978).
The roles Edelman played are revealing as to how baldness has been represented in American pop culture--particularly in the presumably "liberated" 1960s and 70s. He tended to be a faintly ridiculous would-be participant in the sexual revolution, a Jewish "regular" guy or someone's uncle. Still some boomers may remember him as the co-star of "The Good Guys" (CBS, 1968-70), a likable sitcom which teamed him with Bob Denver, then fresh off of "Gilligan's Island". He was Bert Gramus to Denver's Rufus Butterworth, life-long buddies who pool their dough to buy a diner. Edelman again played a lead in the charming Saturday morning live-action fantasy series, "Big John, Little John" (NBC, 1976-77), as a junior high school science teacher who stumbles upon and partakes of the legendary Fountain of Youth. He subsequently finds himself transforming into a 12-year-old (Robbie Rist) at the most inopportune times. More typically, Edelman was a supporting player in short-lived sitcoms, cop dramas and numerous TV-movies. A frequent TV guest star, notably on "Murder, She Wrote", he also starred in a slew of sitcom pilots that failed to get picked up.
Edelman turned up in over a dozen features, playing the Russian premier in "In Like Flint" (1967), Barbara Streisand's radio producer in "The Way We Were" (1973) and Jerry Lewis' psychiatrist in "Cracking Up" (1983). Back on the small screen, he garnered two Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series" in 1986/87 and 1987/88 for his work on "The Golden Girls". Edelman succumbed to a long battle with emphysema in 1996 at age 62.
•Also Credited As: Colin Campbell, Herbert Edelman
•Born:
on 11/05/33 in Brooklyn, New York
•Died:
21-JUL-96.
•Job Titles:
Actor, Comedian, Radio announcer (in Okinawa), Copywriter, Longshoreman, Taxi driver
Family
•Brother: Marvin Edelman. survived him
•Daughter: Briana Edelman. survived him
•Daughter: Jacy Edelman. survived him
•Father: Mayer Edelman. survived him
•Mother: Jennie Edelman. deceased
•Sister: Betty T Edelman. survived him
Significant Others
•Wife: Louise Sorel. soap villain on "Days of Our Lives"; married December in 1964; divorced
•Wife: Merrilyn Crosgrove. divorced
•Companion: Christina Pickles
Education
•Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York, 1955-58
•School of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Milestones
•1961 First stage role of note, played the Commodore in Boston production of "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad"
•1963 Breakthrough stage role, the telephone repairman in Broadway production of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park", directed by Mike Nichols
•1963 Broadway debut, "Lorenzo"
•1966 TV series debut, played the recurring role of Uncle Harry on the sitcom "Occasional Wife"
•1967 Reprised the role of the bewildered telephone repairman in film version of "Barefoot in the Park"
•1968 Portrayed Murray the cop in the film version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple"
•1969 TV-movie debut, "In Name Only", an ABC romantic comedy
•1973 Starred in the busted pilot for a NBC comedy-drama entitled "Kosta and His Family"
•1974 Co-starred with Tim Conway in "The Boys", an unsold sitcom pilot
•1978 Starred in "Honest Al's A-OK Used Car and Trailer Rental Tigers", a busted pilot for a syndicated sitcom
•1983 Final film role, co-starred as psychiatrist Dr. Jonas Pletchik in Jerry Lewis' "Cracking Up/Smorgasbord"
•"Discovered" by director Mike Nichols while driving a cab
•Attended Cornell University's School of Agriculture for six months
•Co-starred with Bob ("Gilligan's Island") Denver in the "buddy" sitcom, "The Good Guys"
•Co-starred with Robbie Rist in the live-action Saturday morning NBC children's fantasy series "Big John, Little John", as a junior high school science teacher who discovers the fountain of youth
•Continued to drive cab, often picking up audience members who had seen him perform
•Enrolled in Brooklyn College where he began acting regularly
•Grew up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn with dreams of becoming a farmer
•Occasionally played Mo Epstein, "sweat hog" Juan's uncle, on the hit high school sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter"
•Played a recurring role on the respected NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere"
•Played a regular role, Deputy Commissioner Herbert Klein, on the ABC cop drama "Strike Force"
•Played a regular, the good-natured salesman Harry, on the first season of the ABC sitcom spin-off "9 to 5"
•Played the recurring role of Bea Arthur's no-good ex-husband Stanley Zbornak on the hit NBC sitcom "The Golden Girls"
•Played the regular role of Reggie, a harried bookkeeper, on the short-lived sitcom "Ladies' Man"
•Served as a corporal in the US Army
•Turned down a role in Mike Nichols' film version of "Catch 22" to star in a TV series
