Daniel Patrick Harrington Jr. (August 13, 1929 – January 6, 2016) was an American
Emmy Award-winning stage and television actor, best known for his role as building superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the sitcom ''
One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984). His father
Pat Harrington Sr. was also an actor.
Early life
Harrington was born in Manhattan on August 13, 1929.
His father was a song and dance man who worked in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
and performed on the Broadway stage. Harrington attended a Catholic military school, La Salle Military Academy in Oakdale, New York. then graduated from Fordham University in 1950 with a bachelor of arts and subsequently received a master's degree in political philosophy, also from Fordham. During the Korean War, Harrington served as an intelligence officer with the United States Air Force, where he achieved the rank of first lieutenant.
Following in his father's footsteps, he pursued a career in entertainment after graduating from college and completing military service. He took a job at NBC in New York City. He then began acting on stage and toured North America with a number of plays, eventually performing on Broadway.
Career
Harrington became known in the 1950s as a member of
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
's television comedy troupe, the "Men on the Street" (which included
Don Knotts,
Tom Poston
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
and
Louis Nye
Louis Nye (May 1, 1913 – October 9, 2005) was an American comedic actor. He was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs.
Early years
He was born Louis ...
). He made many appearances as the comedic Italian immigrant golf pro Guido Panzini on ''
The Jack Paar Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' in the mid-1950s. In the 1959–60 season, he played the recurring role of Pat Hannigan in 11 episodes of
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running sitc ...
's sitcom ''
The Danny Thomas Show
''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show f ...
''.
In the 1964–1965 television season, he guest-starred on numerous programs, including the sitcom ''
The Bing Crosby Show'' and ''
Kentucky Jones
''Kentucky Jones'' is an American comedy-drama television series starring Dennis Weaver which centers around a widowed Southern California veterinarian and rancher raising an adopted Chinese boy. Original episodes aired from September 19, 1964, un ...
'' (starring
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weave ...
). In a 1965 episode of ''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...
'' ("The Bow-Wow Affair"), Harrington reprised his role as Guido Panzini (who he also played in the February 8, 1966, episode of ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...
'' "McHale's Country Club Caper"). On April 6, 1965, Harrington appeared in an episode of ''
Mr. Novak'' (starring
James Franciscus
James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: '' Mr. Novak'', '' The Naked City'', '' The Investigators'', '' Longstreet'', '' Doc Elliot'', ...
) titled "There's a Penguin in My Garden." He also guest-starred on two episodes of ''
The Munsters
''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...
''.
In 1967, he appeared in the
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
film ''
Easy Come, Easy Go''. He also parodied ''
Get Smart
''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...
'' in an episode of ''
F Troop
''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and ...
'', in which he played secret agent "B Wise". From 1971 to 1974, he appeared in 11 episodes as District Attorney Charlie Giannetta of the ABC legal drama ''
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law'', starring
Arthur Hill in the title role.
Harrington worked as a voice actor, including
Ray Palmer/the Atom and
Roy Harper/Speedy on ''
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'' is a Saturday morning Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC ...
'' in 1967. From 1965 to 1969, Harrington portrayed the voices of both
The Inspector
''The Inspector'' is a series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comical ...
(a character inspired by
Inspector Jacques Clouseau
Inspector Jacques Clouseau (), later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical ''The Pink Panther'' series. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in th ...
) and his sidekick Deux Deux in all of the original 34 animated episodes of the character's eponymous series, created by Mirisch Films and
DePatie-Freleng and released via
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
. They later were shown as part of the Pink Panther cartoon TV show. Another cartoon voice he did was Jon's father on ''
A Garfield Christmas Special''.
![One day at a time schneider 1976](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/One_day_at_a_time_schneider_1976.JPG)
In 1974, he appeared with
Peter Falk and
Robert Conrad in the ''
Columbo'' episode ''
An Exercise in Fatality''. Harrington is best known for his role as building superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the 1975–1984 television sitcom ''
One Day at a Time''. He won both an
Emmy Award and a
Golden Globe Award for his work on this series. In 1979, Harrington appeared as a celebrity guest star/game show contestant on ''
Password Plus
''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...
''. He reprised his role as Schneider in a series of commercials in the late 1980s for
Trak Auto Parts after the show ended. He appeared in an episode of ''
The King of Queens
''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...
'' in 2006.
Harrington twice appeared on former co-star
Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress. She first achieved recognition as a child actress, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom '' One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984) for which she won two Golden Globe Award ...
's television shows. In 1990, he appeared on ''
Sydney'' and in 2012 he appeared, in his final acting role, on ''
Hot in Cleveland
''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White.
The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's hig ...
''.
Personal life
Harrington married Marjorie Ann Gortner in 1955; the couple had four children, including tennis player
Mike Harrington. They divorced in 1985. He married Sally Cleaver, an insurance executive, in 2001.
Death
Harrington, who had
Alzheimer's disease, fell in early November 2015. He suffered a small brain hemorrhage and spent three weeks in a hospital and nursing home. Harrington's children announced his death on January 6, 2016, aged 86.
He died on co-star
Bonnie Franklin's birthday, though she predeceased him in 2013.
Selected filmography
Awards and honors
*
1980: Golden Globe Award –
Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – ''
One Day at a Time''
*
1984: Primetime Emmy Award –
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – ''
One Day at a Time''
*2003:
TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...
Awards – Nosiest Neighbor –
One Day at a Time (nominated)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Pat Jr.
1929 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Male actors from New York City
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Fordham University alumni
Deaths from dementia in California
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Accidental deaths from falls
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
People from Manhattan
University of California, Berkeley alumni