Richard Allen Dysart (March 30, 1929 – April 5, 2015) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as Leland McKenzie in the television series '' L.A. Law'' (1986–1994), for which he won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

from four consecutive nominations. In film, he held supporting roles in ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

'' (1979), '' The Thing'' (1982), ''

Mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

'' (1985), '' Pale Rider'' (1985) and ''

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

'' (1987).

Early life

Richard Dysart was born to Alice (née Hennigar) and Douglas Dysart, a podiatrist, near

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, on March 30, 1929. Dysart was raised in

Skowhegan, Maine Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Sko ...

and

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the Un ...

. He attended

Gould Academy Gould Academy is a private, co-ed, college preparatory boarding and day school founded in 1836 and located in the small town of Bethel, Maine, United States. History In 1835 citizens of Bethel, Maine, formed an organization as trustees of the ...

Bethel, Maine Bethel is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Bethel and West Bethel. The town is home to Gould Academy, a private preparatory school, and is near the Sun ...

. At the encouragement of his mother, Dysart performed in

summer stock In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

at the Lakewood Theater near Skowhegan. He also worked at a local radio station. He earned both bachelor's (1956) and master's (1981) in speech communication from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in Boston, although his undergraduate education was interrupted due to his service for four years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. At Emerson he performed on stage, and he was a class officer and student government vice-president. He was a brother of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity. He also studied at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

. He returned for his master's degree later, completing it in 1981.

Career

Dysart's acting career began on the stage. He was a founding member of the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Americ ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California, which began in 1960. He performed on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in '' All in Good Time'' (1965), ''A Place Without Doors'' (1970-1971), and in the revival of Horace Giddens '' The Little Foxes'' (1967–1968), alongside

Ann Bancroft Ann Bancroft (born September 29, 1955) is an American author, teacher, adventurer, and public speaker. She was the first woman to finish a number of expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fam ...

, and ''

That Championship Season ''That Championship Season'' is a 1972 play by Jason Miller. It was the recipient of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1973 Tony Award for Best Play. Plot synopsis The setting is 1972 at the Coach's home in Scranton, Pennsylvania. O ...

'' (1972–1974). Dysart played the role of Coach in the original Broadway production of Jason Miller's

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

winning play, ''

'', alongside Charles Durning in 1973. In 1979, Dysart portrayed a good-hearted physician in the film ''

'', starring

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

and

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchk ...

. In 1980, he played

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Edwin Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...

in the television film '' The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd''. He voiced the kindly miner Uncle Pom in the Disney English-language version of

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's 1986 adventure classic ''

Castle in the Sky , titled ''Laputa: Castle in the Sky'' for release in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, is a 1986 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The first film produced by Studio Ghibli, i ...

'' and the character of Cogliostro on '' Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Animated Series'', which aired on HBO. His other movie credits included roles in '' The Hindenburg'', ''

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, '' Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response in ...

'', ''

Prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or p ...

'', '' The Thing'' directed by

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

, '' Pale Rider'' directed by

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

, and ''

Day One Day One may refer to: Film and television * ''Day One'' (1989 film), a 1989 television film * ''Day One'', also known as ''To Write Love on Her Arms'', a 2012 drama film * ''Day One'' (2015 film), a 2015 short film * ''Day One'' (TV series), a ...

'' (with ''L.A. Law'' co-star Michael Tucker). He appeared in an episode of the 1976 CBS television series ''

Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

''.

Honors and awards

Dysart received a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

in 1972 for his role as Coach in ''

''. Dysard was nominated four years in a row for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...

between 1989 to 1992, for his role as Leland McKenzie on L.A. Law, winning just the once in 1992.

Personal life and death

Dysart was married three times. The first two marriages resulted in divorce. He and his third wife, artist Kathryn Jacobi, were married from 1987 until his death. He had no children of his own, but had a stepson from his third wife and two step-grandchildren. Dysart died at home in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

on April 5, 2015, after a long battle with cancer. He was 86 years old.

Selected filmography

*''

Love with the Proper Stranger ''Love with the Proper Stranger'' is a 1963 American romantic comedy-drama film made by Pakula- Mulligan Productions and Boardwalk Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula ...

'' (1963) – Accountant (uncredited) *''

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on ...

'' (1968) – Motel Receptionist *''

The Lost Man ''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 ...

'' (1969) – Barnes *''

The Sporting Club ''The Sporting Club'' is the 1968 debut novel of author Thomas McGuane. Plot summary ''The Sporting Club'' chronicles the friendship and rivalry of Vernor Stanton, an unstable patrician iconoclast, and the protagonist, Stanton's lifelong friend, J ...

'' (1971) – Spengler *'' The Hospital'' (1971) – Dr. Welbeck *''

All In The Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'' (1972) – Russ DeKuyper *''

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. She tells of the major events of her life f ...

'' (1974, TV Movie) – Master Bryant *''

The Terminal Man ''The Terminal Man'' is a novel by American writer Michael Crichton. It is his second novel under his own name and his twelfth overall, and is about the dangers of mind control. It was published in April 1972, and also serialized in ''Playboy'' ...

'' (1974) – Dr. John Ellis *'' The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder'' (1974) – Father *''

The Day of the Locust ''The Day of the Locust'' is a 1939 novel by American author Nathanael West set in Hollywood, California. The novel follows a young artist from the Yale School of Fine Arts named Tod Hackett, who has been hired by a Hollywood studio to do scen ...

'' (1975) – Claude Estee *'' The Hindenburg'' (1975) – Captain Ernst Lehman *''

It Happened One Christmas ''It Happened One Christmas'' is a 1977 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy-comedy-drama film directed by Donald Wrye, starring Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles, and Cloris Leachman. It originally premiered as ''The ABC Sunday ...

'' (1977, TV Movie) – Peter Bailey *''

'' (1978) – Aslaksen *''

'' (1979) – Isely *''

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

'' (1979) – Secretary of Defense *''

'' (1979) – Dr. Robert Allenby *'' Bitter Harvest'' (1981) – Dr. Morton Freeman *'' The Thing'' (1982) – Dr. Copper *''

The Falcon and the Snowman ''The Falcon and the Snowman'' is a 1985 American spy drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian is based on the 1979 book ''The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage'' by Robert Lin ...

'' (1985) – Dr. Lee *''

'' (1985) – Abe *'' Malice in Wonderland'' (1985, TV Movie) – Louis B. Mayer *'' Pale Rider'' (1985) – Coy LaHood *''

Warning Sign A warning sign is a type of sign which indicates a potential hazard, obstacle, or condition requiring special attention. Some are traffic signs that indicate hazards on roads that may not be readily apparent to a driver. While warning traffi ...

'' (1985) – Dr. Nielsen *''

Blood & Orchids ''Blood & Orchids'' is a 1986 made-for-TV crime-drama film. Written for the screen by Norman Katkov, it was an adaptation of Katkov's own novel which, in turn, was inspired by the 1932 Massie Trial in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was typical of many ...

'' (1986, TV Movie) – Harvey Koster *''

'' (1986) – Uncle Pom (English version, voice) *'' The Last Days of Patton'' (1986, TV Movie) – Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower *''

'' (1987) – Cromwell *''

'' (1989, TV Movie) – President Harry S. Truman *'' War and Remembrance'' (1989, TV Movie) – President Harry S Truman *''

Back to the Future Part III ''Back to the Future Part III'' is a 1990 American science fiction Western film and the final installment of the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Ste ...

'' (1990) – Barbwire salesman *''

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats * Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in S ...

'' (1995) – J. Edgar Hoover *'' Truman'' (1995, TV Movie) – Henry L. Stimson *''Todd McFarlane's Spawn'' (1997) – Cogliostro (voice) *'' Hard Rain'' (1998) – Henry Sears *''Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2'' (1998) – Cogliostro (voice) *''Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle'' (1999) – Cogliostro (voice) *'' L.A. Law: The Movie'' (2002, TV Movie) – Leland McKenzie *''

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

'' (2004, Documentary) – The Ancient Mariner (voice)

References

External links

* *
Richard Dysart
at Internet Off-Broadway Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Dysart, Richard 1929 births 2015 deaths Male actors from Massachusetts American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Emerson College alumni Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Male actors from Boston United States Air Force airmen United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Deaths from cancer in California