Richard Schaal Explained

Richard Schaal
Birth Date:5 May 1928
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, US
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, US
Occupation:Actor
Spouse:
  • Lois Treacy
    (19??; 19??)
Children:Wendy Schaal

Richard Schaal (; May 5, 1928 – November 4, 2014) was an American film and television actor born in Chicago, Illinois.

Career

In 1962, Schaal joined Chicago's famed Second City, becoming skilled in sketch and improvisational comedy.

Schaal and Valerie Harper wrote "Love and the Visitor" (1970) for Love, American Style, a TV series.[1] [2] [3]

He was featured in a number of episodes of the 1970s sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show (where he played no fewer than four different characters: Howard Arnell, his brother Paul, Chuckles the Clown and Dino), The Bob Newhart Show (as three characters: Don Fezler, Don Livingston and Chuck Brock), Rhoda (as Charlie Burke) and Phyllis (23 episodes as Leo Heatherton). His earliest appearance with Mary Tyler Moore was in the 1966 Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Dear Sally Rogers" (billed as Dick Schaal).[4] In both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, the actor played alongside his then-wife, actress Valerie Harper. In 1983, he had a recurring role in Just Our Luck.

Personal life

Schaal was born on May 5, 1928, in Chicago, the son of Victor Cornelius Schaal, a machinist, and Margaret Schaal (née Margaret Semple Waddell), a telephone operator.

Schaal was married three times, first to Lois Treacy, second to actress Valerie Harper, and third to Tasha Brittain.[5] With Treacy, he had one child, American actress Wendy Schaal.

Schaal died November 4, 2014, in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California at age 86. No cause of death was provided. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.[6] [7]

Partial filmography

Films

YearTitleRole
1966The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Oscar Maxwell
1969The Virgin President Hugh Mugababy
1969The Cube The Man in the Cube
1972Slaughterhouse-Five Howard W. Campbell Jr.
1973Steelyard Blues Zoo Official Mel
1974A Knife for the Ladies Ainslie
1979Americathon Jerry
1980The Hollywood Knights Nevans
1982O'Hara's Wife Jerry Brad
1985Once Bitten Mr. Kendall

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1966The Dick Van Dyke ShowStevie ParsonsEpisode: "Dear Sally Rogers" (as Dick Schall)
1967That GirlLost & Found ManEpisode: "Gone with the Breeze" (as Dick Schall)
1969I Dream of JeannieMarvin OglethorpeEpisode: "Jeannie and the Secret Weapon" (as Dick Schaal)
1970The Mary Tyler Moore Showvarious, including Chuckles the Clown4 episodes
1973The Partridge FamilyMichaelangelo RezoEpisode: "Me and My Shadow"
1974The Rockford FilesLeonard BlairEp: "Caledonia, It's Worth a Fortune!"
1975 - 1976PhyllisLeo HeathertonMain cast (season 1)
1983Just Our LuckChuckMain cast
1988 - 1989Almost GrownDick LongMain cast

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020-01-06 . Valerie Harper: You Will Be Missed . 2023-11-28 . thewritelife61 . en.
  2. Book: Wagner, Laura . Anne Francis: The Life and Career . 2011-08-12 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-8600-7 . en.
  3. Web site: 2020-04-04 . Guest TV Appearances - The William Windom Tribute Site . 2023-11-28 . en-US.
  4. The Dick Van Dyke Show, "Dear Sally Rogers" (1966)
  5. http://home.comcast.net/~mcnotes/reoccuring2.html Northern Exposure: recurring characters
  6. News: Vitello. Paul. Richard Schaal, Actor on TV and in Clubs, Dies at 86. The New York Times. November 6, 2014. November 7, 2014.
  7. Staff (November 6, 2014) "Richard Schaal dies at 86; character actor was a Second City pioneer", Los Angeles Times accessed November 7, 2014.