Thursday 14 December 2006

Peter Boyle 1935-2006

American actor Peter Boyle has died aged 71. Boyle starred in a number of films and TV series including Young Frankenstein, Taxi Driver and The X-Files.

After three years in a monastery he moved to New York to study acting with Uta Hagen and had an early stage appearance in 1961 in Shadow of Heroes. He toured with The Odd Couple from 1965-67 as an Oscar Madison understudy, dropping out in Chicago to join the legendary improvisational comedy troupe Second City.

"He used to read the newspaper on stage every night and he would improvise on things that were in the newspaper on the spot," said Second City producer Joyce Sloan.

He may well be best remembered as the curmudgeonly Father in Everybody Loves Raymond. His co-stars from that show give their reactions to his death in this article. There’s a good little bit about him and his casting in Raymond here.

Ken Levine has a nice tribute to him. Mark Evanier also has a short tribute on his site.

Below is his famous scene in Young Frankenstein.

1 comment:

Fraser said...

I meant to put a comment on mentioning how much I enjoyed Boyle in "Where The Buffalo Roam" and now I have. I rest easy having added to my fulfilling life of achievement.