Bill Macy
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Wolf Martin Garber (May 18, 1922 – October 17, 2019), known professionally as Bill Macy, was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is best known for his role of Walter Findlay on the CBS television sitcom Maude (1972–1978).
Early life
Bill Macy was born Wolf Martin Garber on May 18, 1922, in Revere, Massachusetts, the son of Mollie (née Friedopfer; 1889–1986) and Michael Garber (1884–1974), a manufacturer.[1]
He was raised Jewish in the East Flatbush section of New York, New York. After graduating from Samuel J. Tilden High School he served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946 with the 594th Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment, stationed in the Philippines, New Guinea and Japan.[2]
He worked as a cab driver for a decade before being cast as Walter Matthau's understudy in Once More, with Feeling on Broadway in 1958. He portrayed a cab driver on the soap opera The Edge of Night in 1966.
Macy was an original cast member of the 1969–1972 Off-Broadway sensation Oh! Calcutta!,[3] performing in the show from 1969 to 1971.[4] He later appeared in the 1972 movie version of the musical.[5] Of appearing fully nude with the rest of the cast in the stage show, he said, "The nudity didn't bother me. I'm from Brooklyn."[3]
Macy performed on the P. D. Q. Bach album The Stoned Guest (1970).
Television
Appreciating Macy's comedic skills off Broadway, Norman Lear brought him to Hollywood, where he first got a small part as a police officer in All in the Family. He was cast in the role of Walter Findlay, the husband of the title character on the 1970s television sitcom Maude, starring Bea Arthur. The show ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1978.[6]
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"He was a rare and great comic actor. There was only one Bill Macy."
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Strangers on the street often called him "Mr. Maude", consoling him for having such a difficult wife. "I used to tell them that people like that really existed," Macy explained.[7]
In 1975, Macy and Samantha Harper Macy appeared on the game show Tattletales.[8]
In 1986, Macy was a guest on the fourth episode of L.A. Law, playing an older man whose young wife wants a music career. Also that year he guest starred in an episode of Highway to Heaven, called Cindy.[9] Macy appeared in the television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) as banker Richard Wilson. He appeared on The Facts of Life in a 1988 episode. He occasionally appeared on Seinfeld as one of the residents of the Florida retirement community where Jerry Seinfeld's parents lived. Macy made a guest appearance as a patient on Chicago Hope and as an aging gambler on the series Las Vegas. Macy's last television role occurred in a 2010 episode of Jada Pinkett Smith's series Hawthorne.[3]
Film
Macy appeared as the jury foreman in The Producers in 1967, with the memorable sole line "We find the defendants incredibly guilty". Other memorable roles include the co-inventor of the "Opti-Grab" in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk and as the head television writer in My Favourite Year (1982).
Other film credits included roles in Death at Love House (1976), The Late Show (1977), Serial (1980), Movers & Shakers (1985), Bad Medicine (1985), Tales from the Darkside (1985 - "Lifebomb" episode), Sibling Rivalry (1990), The Doctor (1991), Me Myself & I (1992), Analyze This (1999), Surviving Christmas (2004), The Holiday (2006), and Mr. Woodcock (2007).[3][10]
Personal life
Macy met his future wife, Samantha Harper, on the set of Oh! Calcutta! in 1969.[6] They married in 1975.[4]
Macy died on October 17, 2019, at the age of 97; no cause was given.[11]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Producers | Jury Foreman | Uncredited |
| 1977 | The Late Show | Charlie Hatter | |
| 1979 | The Jerk | Stan Fox | |
| 1980 | Serial | Sam | |
| 1982 | My Favorite Year | Sy Benson | |
| 1985 | Movers & Shakers | Sid Spokane | |
| Bad Medicine | Dr. Gerald Marx | ||
| 1990 | Sibling Rivalry | Pat | |
| 1991 | The Doctor | Al Cade | |
| 1992 | Me Myself & I | Sydney | |
| 1999 | Analyze This | Dr. Isaac Sobel | |
| 2004 | Surviving Christmas | Doo-Dah | |
| 2006 | The Holiday | Ernie | |
| 2007 | Mr. Woodcock | Mr. Woodcock's Dad | Final film role |
Television
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | The Edge of Night | Cab Driver | 1 episode |
| 1969 | N.Y.P.D. | Eddie Stark | 1 episode Credited as "William Macy" |
| 1972 | All in the Family | Walter Findlay / Uniformed Policeman | 2 episodes |
| 1972-1978 | Maude | Walter Findlay | Main role; 141 episodes |
| 1975 | All Together Now | Charles Drummond | Television film |
| 1976 | Death at Love House | Oscar Payne | |
| 1979 | Diary of a Young Comic | Herbert Gondolstein | |
| The Fantastic Seven | Frank Wallach | ||
| Hanging In | Louis Harper | 4 episodes | |
| Big Shamus, Little Shamus | Henry Berkey | 1 episode | |
| 1980 | The Scarlett O'Hara War | Myron Selznick | Television film |
| 1982 | The Day the Bubble Burst | Mr. Goldberger | |
| 1983 | Hotel | Herman Wells | 1 episode |
| 1984 | Oh Madeline | Buddy | 1 episode |
| Masquerade | Lou Tilsit the Dentist | ||
| St. Elsewhere | Hershel Millstein | 2 episodes | |
| 1984-1986 | The Love Boat | Myles / Jack Davidson | 3 episodes |
| 1985 | Riptide | Chuck Davis | 1 episode |
| Tales from the Darkside | Ben Martin | ||
| Hardcastle and McCormick | Art Healy | ||
| 1985-1988 | Highway to Heaven | Max / Vincent DeGeralimo | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Tall Tales & Legends | Pop Gumm | 1 episode |
| L.A. Law | Irving Lewis | 2 episodes | |
| You Are the Jury | Frank Mantalbano | 1 episode | |
| 1986-1987 | One Big Family | Larry Collins | 3 episodes |
| 1986-1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Uncle Ben Mayberry / Myron Kinkaid | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Starman | Naughton Wells | 1 episode |
| Nothing in Common | Max Basner | 7 episodes | |
| Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam | Richard Wilson | Television film | |
| 1988 | The Facts of Life | Harold | 1 episode |
| The Law & Harry McGraw | Marvin Gershowitz | Episode: "Marvin Gershowitz" | |
| CBS Summer Playhouse | Sam | 1 episode | |
| 1989 | The Famous Teddy Z | Murray Chekoff | |
| 1990 | Anna | Max Fetchick | Television film |
| Father Dowling Mysteries | Lt. Ed Morgan | 1 episode | |
| 1991 | Matlock | Sid Franklin | |
| 1992 | Middle Ages | Unknown | |
| 1993 | Columbo: It's All in the Game | Ruddick | Television film |
| 1994 | Dave's World | Mr. Rothman | 1 episode |
| Diagnosis Murder | Eugene McReedy | ||
| 1994-1998 | Viper | Marty | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | NYPD Blue | Moe Neilberg | 1 episode |
| Can't Hurry Love | Arthur Peoples | 2 episodes | |
| Hudson Street | El Gato | 1 episode | |
| 1996 | Chicago Hope | Murray Robbins | |
| Seinfeld | Chair of Morty's condo impeachment vote / Herb | 2 episodes | |
| Ned and Stacey | Jack | 1 episode | |
| The Home Court | Karl Geller | ||
| The John Larroquette Show | Charlie | ||
| Something So Right | Leo | ||
| 1997 | Promised Land | George Laverne | |
| 1998 | Millennium | Blurk | |
| Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place | Mr. Harrison | ||
| 1999 | Norm | Phil | |
| Jack & Jill | Stanley Ashton | 2 episodes | |
| 2000 | Providence | Mr. Foley | 1 episode |
| Touched by an Angel | Walter Titlebaum | ||
| 2001 | The Lone Gunmen | Mr. Dimsdale | |
| The Brothers Garcia | Mr. Aguayo | ||
| 2002 | My Wife and Kids | Drive Thru Attendant | |
| 2004 | ER | Richard Gould | |
| LAX | Martin | ||
| 2005 | Stacked | Charlie | |
| Early Bird | Harold | Television film | |
| 2006 | Las Vegas | Sharkey Rosenthal | 1 episode |
| 2007 | How I Met Your Mother | Man sitting next to Barney on the subway | Uncredited 1 episode |
| My Name Is Earl | Whiskey Pete | 1 episode | |
| Back to You | Troy | ||
| 2010 | True Jackson, VP | Unknown | |
| Hawthorne | Mr. Rickles | 1 episode Final television appearance |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Oh! Calcutta! | Monte / Mute Physician |
References
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External links
- Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
- Template:Iobdb name
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs
- Pages with script errors
- IBDB name template using Wikidata
- 1922 births
- 2019 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- People from Revere, Massachusetts
- American male musical theatre actors
- American television personalities
- Place of death missing
- Jewish American male actors
- Male actors from Massachusetts
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American Jews