Richard Stahl

Richard Stahl (January 4, 1932 – June 18, 2006) was an American actor who mostly appeared in film and TV comedies. Born in Detroit, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. In the 1950s, he was appearing in Off-Broadway productions, where he met his wife to be Kathryn Ish in 1959. In the 1960s, he relocated to San Francisco and became a member of an improvisational comedy group, The Committee. Some of Stahl's best known film credits include Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Student Nurses (1970), Billy Jack (1971), Beware! The Blob (1972), Dirty Little Billy (1972), High Anxiety (1977), 9 to 5 (1980), Tin Man (1983), The Flamingo Kid (1984), Overboard (1987), L.A. Story (1991), The American President (1995) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). He appeared in many TV situation comedies and in occasional dramas, including That Girl, The Partridge Family, Bonanza (2 roles), Love American Style, Columbo (3 roles), All in the Family (2 roles), Good Times, The Odd Couple (9 episodes, never playing the same role twice), Maude, The Rookies, Happy Days, Harry O (4 episodes, in 2 different roles), McMillan & Wife, The Bob Newhart Show (2 roles), WKRP in Cincinnati, Soap, Benson, Barney Miller (3 roles), Laverne & Shirley (3 roles), Hill Street Blues, The Facts of Life, Family Ties, Who's the Boss?, Highway to Heaven, Newhart (3 roles as 2 different characters), Simon & Simon, Night Court, Murder, She Wrote, Night Court (2 roles), Golden Girls, Empty Nest (3 roles), and Married... with Children. Stahl co-starred in the short-lived comedy mini-series Turnabout (1979); and between 1985 and 1989 was a regular on the sitcom It's a Living, appearing in a total of 93 episodes. Stahl died aged 74 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Health Center in Los Angeles, after a 10-year struggle against Parkinson's disease. Stahl's wife, actress Kathryn Ish, died of cancer in Santa Barbara, California, on December 31, 2007.