Actor Michael Constantine passed away on August 31st of natural causes in his hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania at the age of 94. His death was not announced until today and I learned about it from Larry Storch via Facebook.
A character actor, Constantine was best known for two roles which he played nearly 30 years apart. After toiling for more than 15 years as an actor, Constantine's breakout role came on ABC's Room 222 playing the school principal, Seymour Kaufman. Constantine appeared in Room 222 alongside Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine. The series ran for five seasons from 1969 to 1974.
In 2002, Constantine experienced an unexpected career resurgence when he was cast in Nia Vardolos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding as the Windex spraying patriarch Costas "Gus" Portokalos. Constantine, of course, was of Greek heritage. He would reprise his role in the short-lived TV series My Big Fat Greek Life and in the 2016 sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.
Constantine had well over 100 TV credits including The Untouchables, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, Ironside, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, The Name of the Game, Night Gallery, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, Lou Grant, Benson, Quincy M.E., The Fall Guy, Matt Houston, Murder, She Wrote, Law & Order and Judging Amy. He was also the star of the short-lived NBC TV series Sirota's Court (which was Night Court about 10 years before its time). It was only on Sunday that I saw of his one of his appearances on The Fugitive.
I leave you with a bearded Constantine accepting his Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. R.I.P.
No comments:
Post a Comment