Harris Yulin, 'Scarface' and 'Ghostbusters II' actor, dies at 87: 'One of the greatest'
Harris Yulin, 'Scarface' and 'Ghostbusters II' actor, dies at 87: 'One of the greatest'
Harris Yulin, the Emmy-nominated actor known for his wide-ranging roles in films such as "Scarface," "Ghostbusters II" and "Clear and Present Danger," has died. He was 87.
Yulin died of cardiac arrest on June 10 in New York City, according to a press release shared by the actor's representative Sue Leibman. A memorial service is scheduled to be held at a later date.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Yulin was preparing to start production on the Michael Hoffman-directed series "American Classic," which was slated to star Yulin alongside Kevin Kline and Laura Linney.
"Harris Yulin was very simply one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered," Hoffman said in a statement. "His marriage of immense technique with an always fresh sense of discovery, gave his work an immediacy and vitality and purity I've experienced nowhere else.
"And what he was as an actor, he was as a man, the grace, the humility, the generosity. All of us at'American Classic'have been blessed by our experience with him. He will always remain the beating heart of our show."
A native of Los Angeles, Yulin got his showbiz start in the theater community of New York City, appearing in a 1963 production of the James Saunders play "Next Time I'll Sing to You." He made his Broadway debut in the '80s with the Lillian Hellman play "Watch on the Rhine" and went on to perform in other shows such as "The Price," "The Visit" and "Hedda Gabler."
In 2004, Yulin starred in a Chicago production of "Finishing the Picture," the final play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller. The actor also directed a number of plays himself, including "The Glass Menagerie," "The Trip to Bountiful" and "This Lime Tree Bower."
Yulin made his cinematic debut in 1970 with a starring role in the dark comedy "End of the Road." In the '80s, Yulin stretched his acting chops with roles in the gangster drama "Scarface" and adventure comedy "Ghostbusters II." The actor continued to switch things up in the '90s, appearing in the political thriller "Clear and Present Danger" and slapstick comedy "Bean."
Brian Wilson dies: Beach Boys cofounder was 82
Yulin also lent his talents to the TV world with recurring roles in the series "Ozark," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Billions." He received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1996 for his guest role on the sitcom "Frasier."
"Yulin was part of the vanguard of a generation who cared passionately about the craft of acting," a statement from Yulin's death announcement read. "This deep, lifelong dedication led to extraordinary, resonant performances that were a gift to audiences, the actors he worked with, and the art of acting itself."
Additionally, Yulin gave back to his fellow actors through teaching stints at The Juilliard School and Columbia University.
10 bingeable memoirs to check out: Celebrities tell all about aging, marriage and Beyoncé
Yulin is survived by his wife Kristen Lowman, son-in-law Ted Mineo, nephew Martin Crane, and godchildren Marco and Lara Greenberg.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Is it finally time to quit ‘The Bear'? Let's discuss.
TV's most serious comedy returned this week with 10 episodes depicting the dysfunctional lives of modern Chicagoans working in a professional kitchen. In its fourth season, 'The Bear' finds its characters working through many of the same problems that were introduced when the Emmy-winning series launched on FX a few years ago: money woes, mommy issues, communication breakdowns — and that's all before you get to the actual challenges of running a functional restaurant.
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Jake Brasch's ‘The Reservoir' suffers from arrested character development at the Geffen Playhouse
All unhappy families of addicts are unhappy in their own way. Unless, of course, you're a stage family, overrun with 'characters' who don't so much speak as deliver laugh lines and dispense nuggets of moral wisdom. Those families tend to be all alike, regardless of the superficial differences among them. Grandparents play a larger role than usual in Jake Brasch's 'The Reservoir,' which opened Thursday at the Geffen Playhouse under the direction of Shelley Butler. But the theater's ability to turn family dysfunction, be it alcoholism, Alzheimer's or just garden-variety existential agony, into entertainment and instant illumination, has long been a staple of the American stage. My tolerance for the artificiality of the genre may be lower than most theatergoers. Some take comfort in hoary comic patterns, souped-up eccentricity and reassuring pieties. Overexposed to this species of drama, I slump in my seat. Indeed, my patience was as thin for 'The Reservoir' as it was for 'Cult of Love,' Leslye Headland's drama about a family breakdown during the holidays that made it to Broadway last season after its 2018 premiere at L.A.'s IAMA Theatre. Neither play is beyond pandering to its audience for an easy laugh. Serving as protagonist and narrator, Josh (Jake Horowitz), the queer Jewish theater student on medical leave from NYU who wakes up one morning after an alcoholic bender at a reservoir in his hometown of Denver, exhibits the snappy, manic banter of a drunk not able to face up to his problem. Patricia (Marin Hinkle), his long-suffering mother, has had it with Josh's relapses, but how can she turn away her son who lies bleeding on her couch? With his mother's help, Josh gets a job as a clerk at a bookstore as he tries once again to pull his life together. Fortunately, Hugo (Adrián González), his manager, is quick to overlook his lax performance. Apparently, drinking has so scrambled Josh's brain that alphabetizing books takes every ounce of his strength. I didn't quite feel as indulgent toward Josh, but not because I didn't sympathize with his struggles. My beef was that he sounded like an anxious playwright determined to string an audience along without forced exuberance and sitcom-level repartee. (Compare, say, one of Josh's rants with those of a character in a Terrence McNally, Richard Greenberg or Jon Robin Baitz comedy, and the drop off in verbal acuity and original wit will become crystal clear.) What gives 'The Reservoir' a claim to uniqueness is the way Josh's four grandparents are conscripted not just into the story but into the staging. Seated in a row onstage, they serve as chorus to their grandson's travails, chiming in with their own opinions and acting out his description of the way his thoughts compulsively take over his mind, like an unstoppable train or a raging river. Each also has an individual role to play in Josh's recovery. Patricia's mother, Irene (Carolyn Mignini), for example, has been transformed by dementia since Josh has seen her last. She's always been his favorite grandparent. He fondly recalls baking cookies, playing Uno and singing along to 'The Sound of Music' with her. Even when she pulled away after he came out in high school, his affection has remained steadfast. He would like to connect with her again and fears he has lost his chance. At the bookstore, he reads up on Alzheimer's disease and hatches a plan to build up the cognitive reserve of all his grandparents by feeding them spinach and keeping them mentally engaged. He's trying, in effect, to save himself by saving them, but they're too feisty to be corralled by their unstable grandson. Irene's fiercely protective husband, Hank (Geoffrey Wade), an arch religious conservative, is too grumpy. As for Josh's paternal Jewish grandparents, Shrimpy (Lee Wilkof) is too much of a practical joker with sex on his mind. And Beverly (Liz Larsen), an electrical engineer who doesn't mince words, is too gimlet-eyed not to see that Josh is focusing on his grandparents to avoid doing the hard work of recovery. Having been sober for many decades herself, Bev recognizes the narcissism of addiction, the way addicts have a tendency to put themselves at the center of the universe. She offers Josh the tough love that he needs, forcing him to see that a grandparent isn't just a grandparent but a human being with a complicated history that needn't be worn like a Kleenex visible from under a sleeve. Josh sets out to be a savior but ends up getting an education in the reality of other people. Brasch's intentions are noble, but 'The Reservoir' doesn't plunge all that deep. The play draws out the distinctiveness of the grandparents by ratcheting up their zingy eccentricities. How easily these characters fall into a punch-line rhythm. Larsen has the most consequential role and she imparts just the right note of astringency. But the staginess of the writing makes it difficult for any of the actors to transcend the shtick that's been assigned to them. Hinkle brings a depth of realism to her portrayal of Patricia, but the character isn't fully developed. Whole dimensions of Patricia's life are veiled to us. Both Hinkle and Gonazález gamely play other characters, but these sketched presences compound the general impression of a comic world drawn without much nuance. The staging is frolicsome but visually monotonous — a problem for a play that is much longer than it needs to be. More than two hours of looking at the fey-preppy outfit costume designer Sara Ryung Clement prepared for Horowitz's Josh becomes a kind of fashion purgatory for audience and protagonist alike. I'm not sure why a production that doesn't take a literal approach to settings has to repeatedly trot out the front seat of a car. The spry assistance of stagehands, who not only move set pieces but help flesh out the world of the play, is a jaunty touch. But the sound and lighting effects get rather heavy-handed during Josh's hallucinatory meltdowns. Blame for the inexcusably clunky dream scenes, a writing fail, can't be pinned on the designers. Horowitz had the Geffen Playhouse's opening-night audience in the palm of his hand, but I heard an actor playing his comic lines more than his character. Horowitz, however, is only following the direction of a playwright, who has a harrowing story to tell and needs you to enjoy every tricked-up minute of the zany-schmaltzy telling.
Hypebeast
11 hours ago
- Hypebeast
Bode SS26 Is a Poetic Tribute to a Musical Legacy
Summary Bodehas revealed itsSpring 2026collection duringParis Fashion Weekin an intimate gathering at the theatre. This collection was created as a tribute to the great American composer Morris 'Moose' Charlap. As guests entered the theatre, they were struck with a unique show format that saw the entirety of the upcoming collection shown on miniature puppets. The dolls, wearing Bode's newest collection, were seen in two lines as audiences are able to get up close and personal to view the details of the collection. 'Moose' Charlap was best known for his score to Broadway'sPeter Panand while he died at a young age of 45, his legacy lives on in his scores and his family, including his son Bill Charlap, who is a two-time Grammy nominated musician and one of the most premier jazz pianists of his generations. Emily Adams Bode Aujla brought guests together to share some of Moose's most iconic works. Taking a moment to address the group, Bode Aujla spoke to the crowd ahead of a performance by Bill Charlap in honor of his father. The designer recalled the moment she was mesmerized by Moose'sPeter Panscore and moment when Bill and her sat in her Conneticut home recounting memories of 'Moose.' The theater had four mini modules that depicted the four most important stages of Moose's life. One was set in Central Park, a place he spent a lot of his time before and after Broadway shows with his wife and another at his boyhood camp, where he received the nickname 'Moose.' Unlike a typical Paris Fashion Week show, Emily Adams Bode Aujla present the collection by sharing her inspiration. Billy performed three songs in honor of his father, explaining to the crowd the meaning behind 'Some Summer Day' fromAlice Through the Looking Glass, 'I Won't Grow Up' fromPeter Panand 'Please Let Me Die in Paris' fromThe Expressionist. The collection has been titled 'The Expressionist' after Moose's last, unfinished musical written with lyricist Eddie Lawrence, the designer describes the collection as a visual songbook of a life in music. Bode brings to life Moose Charlap's vibrant world informed by music, giving it a visual representation in the form of fashion.
