Booth Colman

Booth Colman (March 8, 1923 – December 15, 2014) was an American film, television and stage actor. In his later years he played older authority figures such as doctors and lawyers. Colman appeared in films since 1952, when he appeared uncredited in The Big Sky directed by Howard Hawks.

Colman was born in Portland, Oregon. As a child actor in local productions became active in local radio. He attended the Universities of Washington and Michigan. After Army service during World War II he went to New York and in 1944 began a long career in Broadway theater, first appearing in a production of Irwin Shaw's war drama The Assassin. He was soon invited to join Maurice Evans' acting company, where he continued to act on stage and later in films.^[1]

He appeared dozens of times on prime-time television dramas and comedies. In 1964 he appeared in two episodes of Perry Mason, one as a doctor in police investigations and the other as a prosecuting attorney. Other televisions appearances include Frasier, Gilligan's Island, McCloud and The Monkees. Films include Norma Rae, The Man Who Wasn't There and Intolerable Cruelty. In 1983 he portrayed the kindly scientist Professor Hector Jerrold in the ABC daytime melodrama General Hospital.

In 1974 Colman played the role of Dr. Zaius in the popular short-lived TV series, Planet of the Apes; the role made famous on the big screen by his former teacher, Maurice Evans. In the six episodes in which he appeared, he even wore the same costume that Evans wore in Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes.^[2]

Colman played Scrooge hundreds of times on stage in A Christmas Carol at the Meadow Brook Theatre in the Detroit area. He died in Los Angeles at the age of 91 on December 15, 2014.^[1][3]

References

External links

• Official website
• Booth Colman at the Internet Movie Database
• Obituary - Los Angeles Times