Harold Gould
{{Short description|American actor (1923–2010)}}
{{for multi|the baseball pitcher|Harold Gould (baseball)|the American anthropologist|Harold A. Gould}}
{{Infobox person
|name= Harold Gould
|image= HaroldGould.jpg
|image size=
|caption= Gould in 2009
|birthname= Harold Vernon Goldstein
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1923|12|10}}
|birth_place= Schenectady, New York, U.S.
|death_date= {{Death date and age|2010|9|11|1923|12|10}}
|death_place= Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
|occupation= Actor
|years_active= 1961–2010
|spouse= {{marriage|Lea Shampanier-Vernon|1950}}
|children= 3
| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance = {{USA}}
| branch = 25px United States Army
| serviceyears =
| rank =
| unit =
| battles = World War II
| awards = }}
}}
Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom Rhoda (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in film and television for nearly 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men (as in The Sting), and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film.{{cite web| title=Harold Gould| url=http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/gould_harold.html| publisher=New York State Writers Institute| access-date=2014-06-20}}
Early life
Gould was born in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Louis Goldstein, a postal worker, and Lillian, a homemaker who did part-time work for the New York State Health Department. Gould was raised in Colonie, New York and was valedictorian of his high school class. He enrolled at Albany Teachers College upon graduation and studied to become a social studies or English public high school teacher.
After two years in college, Gould enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and saw combat in France in a chemical mortar battalion. He developed trench foot and was sent back to England to recover. After convalescence, Gould served in a rail transport unit in France.[http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=982796220 Harold Gould], What a Character! Retrieved on 2006-08-13. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619231655/http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=982796220 |date=June 19, 2006 }}
After the war, Gould returned to Albany Teachers College and changed his major to study drama and theatre and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947.{{cite web| url=http://www.filmbug.com/db/292690| title=Harold Gould| publisher=Filmbug| access-date=2014-06-20}} He performed in summer stock theatre on Cape Cod, then decided to enroll at Cornell University to study drama and speech. Gould earned a Master of Arts degree in 1948 and a Ph.D. in theatre in 1953 from Cornell and also met his future wife, Lea Vernon.
Career
Upon graduation, Gould accepted a position at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he spent three years teaching and doing stage work. He made his professional theatre debut in 1955 portraying third President Thomas Jefferson in The Common Glory in Williamsburg, Virginia.{{cite web| title=Harold Gould| url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/74516| publisher=Turner Classic Movies| access-date=2014-06-20}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
In 1956, Gould was offered a professorship in the drama department at the UC Riverside, which he accepted. He taught there for four years until 1960 when he decided to try professional acting himself. He had difficulty finding acting jobs at first and had to take side work as a security guard and as a part-time acting teacher at UCLA.
Gould made his film debut in an uncredited role in Two for the Seesaw (1962). His first credited role was a small part in The Coach (also 1962). That same year he appeared as Prosecutor Tom Finney on The Virginian in the episode titled "The Accomplice." After uncredited appearances in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and The Satan Bug (1965), Gould gradually found more work with credited roles in The Yellow Canary (1964), a Rod Serling film starring Pat Boone, Jack Klugman, and Barbara Eden; Inside Daisy Clover (1965); and Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman.
Gould began appearing regularly in television in the 1960s and 1970s including roles in the children's sitcom Dennis the Menace, followed by numerous other shows of various types / genres such as – Dr. Kildare, Hazel, The Twilight Zone, The Donna Reed Show, Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Gunsmoke, I Dream of Jeannie, The F.B.I., The Big Valley, Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cannon, and Hawaii Five-O where he made multiple appearances as Honore Vashon, one of that series' most memorable villains. Gould originated the role of Marlo Thomas's father in the 1965 pilot for That Girl, but the series role was later recast with Lew Parker. Gould appeared in The Long, Hot Summer and He & She, two short-lived television series.
He also appeared in a pilot later broadcast as a 1972 episode of Love, American Style titled "Love and the Happy Days" with him in the role of Howard Cunningham, the frustrated father of a high schooler named Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard).{{cite news| title=Harold Gould, Character Actor, Dies at 86| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/arts/14gould.html?mabReward=relbias:s&_r=0&adxnnl=1&module=Search&adxnnlx=1403316316-1VestE3mHPKuZImfG0BO1Q| last=Weber| first=Bruce| date=September 13, 2010| work=The New York Times| access-date=2010-06-20}} Gould agreed to reprise the role on the upcoming series Happy Days; however, when production of Happy Days was delayed, he went abroad to perform in a play. Midway through the that play's run, after learning the TV series was ready to begin shooting, he decided to honor his commitment to the stage production and passed on the role. This led to the role of Howard Cunningham being recast with Tom Bosley. Gould would later state that a requirement to shave the beard he wore at the time was another factor in his decision to decline the repeat role.{{cite news| title=Harold Gould dies at 86; veteran character actor| url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-harold-gould-20100914-story.html| last=McLellan| first=Dennis| date=14 September 2010| work=Los Angeles Times| access-date=2014-06-20}}
Gould had worked steadily in television and film for nearly fifteen years before his career began to gain momentum with his portrayal of "Kid Twist' in the fake horse racing gambling hall set up in The Sting (1973), winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture of that year. He went on to appear in Woody Allen's Love and Death (1975) and the Disney film Gus (1976). He was "Engulf," the villainous head of a conglomerate, in Silent Movie (1976), directed by Mel Brooks, and made guest appearances on television shows such as Petrocelli, The Love Boat and Soap where he played the hospital roommate of Jody Dallas (Billy Crystal).
File:Harold Gould Martin Morgenstern Mary Tyler Moore 1973.jpg Show in 1973]]
In 1972, Gould was cast as Martin Morgenstern, the father of Mary's best friend Rhoda, in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He reprised the role the following year and was hired as a regular when Rhoda became a spin-off in 1974. Gould appeared in the short-lived 1977 series The Feather and Father Gang, starring as Harry Danton, a smooth-talking ex-con man, with Stefanie Powers as Toni "Feather" Danton, his daughter and a hard-working, successful lawyer. The show was canceled after 13 episodes, and Gould returned to Rhoda for the remainder of its run.
Gould also appeared in the miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors. In the 1980 NBC miniseries The Scarlett O'Hara War, he portrayed MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer which gained him an Emmy nomination. He appeared as Chad Lowe's grandfather in Spencer and played a Jewish widower wooing the Christian Katharine Hepburn in Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry. Other roles included a married man having an affair with another member of his Yiddish-speaking club in an episode of the PBS series The Sunset Years and as the owner of a deli grooming two African-American men to inherit his business in Singer & Sons. Gould received Emmy nominations for his roles in Rhoda, Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, and Moviola.
Gould played Miles Webber, the steadfast suitor of Rose Nylund (Betty White), on The Golden Girls in 12 episodes across three seasons (he also played another of Rose's boyfriends, Arnie, in one episode of the show's first season). He reprised the role of Miles in two episodes of the spin-off, The Golden Palace, where he became the character's ex-boyfriend and married someone else.
He portrayed the father of a villain called The Prankster on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and made guest appearances on television series such as Felicity, The King of Queens, Touched by an Angel, and Judging Amy. Gould's film roles in the 1990s and 2000s include appearances in Stuart Little, Patch Adams, The Master of Disguise, the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, Nobody's Perfect, and Whisper of the Heart.
His stage credits include Broadway theatre plays such as Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups, Neil Simon's Fools, Richard Baer's Mixed Emotions, and Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase. Gould won an Obie Award in 1969 for his work in The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, written by Václav Havel, and reprised the role for a 1988 PBS version of the play. Gould was an early and longtime (48 years) member of Theatre West, the oldest membership theatre company in Los Angeles.{{cite web| title=History| url=http://theatrewest.org/about/history/| publisher=Theatre West| access-date=2014-06-20| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127202256/http://theatrewest.org/about/history/| archive-date=2014-11-27}} He played Mr. Green in Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr. Green at the Pasadena Playhouse, and George Antrobus in Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" at the Old Globe Theater, which was broadcast on PBS' American Playhouse in 1983.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHQ9jcP5fCw | title=The Skin of Our Teeth, 1983, Old Globe Theatre, American Playhouse | website=YouTube | date=30 October 2020}}
Death
Gould died from prostate cancer on September 11, 2010. He had two sons, Joshua and Lowell, and a daughter, Deborah. He and Lea were married for 60 years.
Filmography
= Films =
class="wikitable sortable" |
Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
---|
1951
| Frightened Villager | Uncredited |
rowspan=2|1962
| Hollingsworth | Uncredited |
Two for the Seesaw
| Bit | Uncredited |
1963
| Ponelli | |
1964
| Marnie | Mr. Garrett, Manager of Farm | Uncredited |
rowspan=3|1965
| Dr. Ostrer | Uncredited |
The Spy with My Face
| Doctor | |
Inside Daisy Clover
| Cop on Pier | |
rowspan=2|1966
| Harper | Sheriff | |
An American Dream
| Ganucci's Attorney | |
1968
| Colonel Holt | |
1969
| Dr. Leibman | |
1970
| Eric P. Scott | |
|1971
| Nexdhet | |
1972
| Dr. Zerny | |
1973
| Kid Twist | |
1974
| The Mayor | |
rowspan=2|1975
| The Strongest Man in the World | Regent Dietz | |
Love and Death
| Anton | |
rowspan=3|1976
| Engulf | |
The Big Bus
| Professor Baxter | |
Gus
| Charles Gwynn | |
1978
| Hector Moses | |
1980
| Judge John Channing | |
1984
| The Dream Chasers | Telford Stampley | |
1986
| Rockefeller | |
1989
| Romero | Francisco Galedo | |
1991
| Birch Street Gym | Jack | Short subject |
rowspan=2|1995
| Old Henry Lesser | |
Lover's Knot
| Alan Smithee | |
rowspan=4|1998
| My Giant | Milt Kaminski | |
Beloved
| Barber Shop Man #4 | Uncredited |
Patch Adams
| Arthur Mendelson | |
Brown's Requiem
| Solly K | |
1999
| Grandpa Spencer | |
2001
| Dying on the Edge | Arthur | |
2002
| Grandfather Disguisey | |
rowspan=3|2003
| Grandpa Alan Coleman | |
Brother Bear
| Old Denahi (voice) | |
Nobody's Perfect
| | Short subject |
rowspan=2|2005
| Shiro Nishi (voice) | English version |
English as a Second Language
| Wayne | |
= Television =
class="wikitable sortable" |
Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
---|
1961
| Tramp | Season 3 Episode 5: "Haunted House" |
1961
| Frank the Cop (uncredited) | Season 1 Episode 7: "The Lonely Ones" |
1962
| | Season 2 Episode 24: "The Rumor" |
1962
| Cal Winslow | Season 5 Episode 8: "Rebel with a Cause" |
1962
| Paul Brauner | Season 1 Episode 1: "Ann Costigan: A Duel on a Field of White" |
1962
| Eric Stanger Judge | Season 1 Episode 9: "Cry a Little for Mary Too" |
1962
| Hazel | Mr. Prior | Season 2 Episode 1: "Hazel's Cousin" |
1962–1965
| Lacey / John Marshall Harrison / John Anderson / Adam Pendleton / Prosecutor Black / Prosecutor Tom Finney | 6 episodes |
1963
| Mr. Sparks | Season 4 Episode 29: "The Three F's" |
1963
| Dr. Peter Duey | Season 2 Episode 25: "The Dark Side of the Mirror" |
1963
| Judge | Season 2 Episode 10: "The Bride Wore Pink" |
1963
| Empire | Judge Will | Season 1 Episode 14: "Stopover on the Way to the Moon" |
1963
| General Larrabee | Season 5 Episode 9: "Probe 7, Over and Out" |
1963
| District Attorney | Season 2 Episode 11: "How to Get Rid of Your Wife" |
1964
| Doctor | Season 1 Episode 8: "The Double Affair" |
1964
| Lawrence West | Season 8 Episode 11: "The Case of the Latent Lover" |
1964–1965
| Director / Mr. Hunter, First IRS Man / DMV Clerk, Corrects Exam | 5 episodes |
1964
| Eller, Interviewer | Season 2 Episode 1: "Man in a Chariot" |
1964
| Gunsmoke | Hadley Boake | Season 10 Episode 5: "Doctor's Wife" |
1964
| Hazel | TV Announcer | Season 3 Episode 30: "Campaign Manager" |
1964
| Hazel | Mr. Wheeler | Season 4 Episode 1: "Never Trouble Trouble" |
1965
| Hazel | Judge Winston | Season 4 Episode 25: "George's Man Friday" |
1965
| Earl McCloskey | Season 4 Episode 18: "Please Let My Baby Live" |
1965
| Dr. Willis | Season 3 Episode 1: "Wings of an Angel" |
1965
| Lew Marie | Season 1 Pilot Episode: "What's in a Name?" |
1965
| Psychiatrist | Season 5 Episode 6: "Ed the Pilot" |
1965–1972
| George Hale / Vincent Millard / Israel Jacobs / Martin Eldon / Doctor / Arnold Bruzzi / Dave Rice / Hans Hunter | 7 episodes |
1966
| Calvin Ryland | Season 1 Episode 15: "May the Best Man Lose" |
1966
| Hans Hunter | Season 2 Episode 11: "The Island of the Darned" |
1966
| General Von Lintzer | Season 2 Episode 14: "Klink's Rocket" |
1967
| General von Scheider | Season 3 Episode 3: "D-Day at Stalag 13" |
1967
| Tom Crailer | Season 4 Episode 18: "Concrete Evidence" |
1967
| Dr. Paul Mailer | Season 1 Episode 1: "The Experiment" |
1967
| Allen Slater | Season 2 Episode 6: "The Trial" |
1967
| Father Sweeney | Season 1 Episode 10: "With Love from Irving" |
1967
| Victor Freemantle | Season 3 Episode 1: "The Night of the Bubbling Death" |
1967
| Major Wilson | Season 2 Episode 30: "Cage of Eagles" |
1967–1980
| Insight | God (Old Man) / Beggar / God / Jonathan / Morris Gertz / Eddie | 7 episodes |
1968
| Judge William Daggett Captain Crawford / Harry Davis | Season 3 Episode 26: "The Challenge" |
1968
| Rabbi Mendez | Season 2 Episode 3: "The Rabbi and the Nun" |
1968
| John Taney | Season 4 Episode 11: "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary" |
1969
| Captain Crawford / Harry Davis | Season 4 Episode 19: "The Royal Road" |
1969
| Whitaker | Season 1 Episode 1: "That's Debbie" |
1969
| Vincente Bravo | Season 4 Episode 1: "The Code" |
1969
| Irwin Winkler | Season 4 Episode 16: "Invisible House for Sale" |
1969
| General Whetherby | Season 5 Episode 5: "Jeannie's Beauty Cream" |
1970
| General von Schlomm | Season 6 Episode 4: "Lady Chitterly's Lover: Part 1" |
1970
| General von Schlomm | Season 6 Episode 5: "Lady Chitterly's Lover: Part 2" |
1971
| Columbo | Agent Carlson | Episode: "Ransom for a Dead Man" |
1971
| Lester Chennery | Season 4 Episode 12: "Real Loser" |
1971
| Alexander Weisberg | TV movie |
1971
| Cannon | Nicholas Troas | Season 1 Episode 9: "A Lonely Place to Die" |
1972
| Season 3 Episode 22: "Love and the Happy Days"/"Love and the Newscasters" (segment "Love and the Television Set") |
1972
| Martin Morgenstern | Season 3 Episode 4: "Enter Rhoda's Parents" |
1972
| The Streets of San Francisco | Arthur Lavery | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Takers" |
1972
| Honore Vashon | Season 5 Episode 9: "'V' for Vashon: The Son" |
1972
| Honore Vashon | Season 5 Episode 10: "'V' for Vashon: The Father" |
1972
| Honore Vashon | Season 5 Episode 11: "'V' for Vashon: The Patriarch" |
1973
| Cannon | Robert L. Jardine | Season 2 Episode 20: "Prisoners" |
1973
| Martin Morgenstern | Season 4 Episode 3: "Rhoda's Sister Gets Married" |
1973
| Walter Yost | Season 4 Episode 3: "Beethoven, Brahms and Partridge" |
1973
| Ironside | Martin Geller | Season 7 Episode 5: "The Armageddon Gang" |
1973
| Joe | Season 1 Episode 6: "Union Trouble" |
1974
| Gunsmoke | Colonel Lucius Shindrow | Season 20 Episode 3: "The Guns of Cibola Blanca: Part 1" |
1974
| Gunsmoke | Colonel Lucius Shindrow | Season 20 Episode 4: "The Guns of Cibola Blanca: Part 2" |
1974
| The Streets of San Francisco | Joseph Francis | Season 2 Episode 23: "Death and the Favored Few" |
1974
| Haskell Fox | Season 1 Episode 6: "Death in High Places" |
1974
| Haskell Fox | Season 1 Episode 8: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..." |
1974
| Andrea Basic | Season 2 Episode 4: "Fathers and Sons" |
1974–1978
| Rhoda | Martin Morgenstern | 17 episodes |
1975
| Cannon | Colonel Mirza | Season 4 Episode 23: "Tomorrow Ends at Noon" |
1975
| Honore Vashon | Season 8 Episode 6: "The Case Against McGarrett" |
1976–1977
| TV series (co-starring Stefanie Powers) as Harry Danton | 14 episodes |
1976
| Haskell Fox | Season 2 Episode 21: "Shadow of a Doubt" |
1976
| Sam Grossman | Season 3 Episode 20: "Eamon Kinsella Royce" |
1977
| Emmett Parnell | Season 4 Episode 16: "The Blue Fog" |
1977
| Soap | Barney Gerber | 4 episodes (Season 1 Episodes 9, 10, 11, 12) |
1977
| Family | Paul Schiller | Season 3 Episode 2: "Acts of Love: Part 2" |
1979
| Mr. Brockelman | Season 5 Episode 19: "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job" |
1979
| Benny Benito | TV movie |
1979
| The Man in the Santa Claus Suit | Dickie Dayton | TV movie |
1980
| Arthur Stowbridge | TV movie |
1980
| Louis B. Mayer | TV movie |
1980
| King Crab | Mr. Campana | TV movie |
1983
| Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues | Arthur Stowbridge | TV movie |
1984
| Melvin Millstein | Season 3 Episode 9: "Up on the Roof" |
1984
| Melvin Millstein | Season 3 Episode 10: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" |
1984
| Webster | Walnutto | Season 2 Episode 3 "The Great Walnutto" |
1985
| Arnie Peterson, Rose's boyfriend | Season 1 Episode 3: "Rose the Prude" |
1986
| Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry | Dr. Marvin Elias | TV movie |
1986
| Andrei Zernov | Season 3 Episode 13: "One Bear Dances, One Bear Doesn't" |
1986
| L.A. Law | Harry Finneman | Season 1 Episode 5: "Simian Chanted Evening" |
1986
| Walter Wise | Season 4 Episode 11: "New Year's Leave" |
1989
| Dr. Stanfield Weston | Season 1 Episode 19: "Man of the Year" |
1989
| Charlie Drexol | Season 1 Episode 17: "Blues for Mr. Charlie" |
1989
| Old Man | Season 3 Episode 9: "To the Chicago Abyss" |
1989
| Nicholas Demente | TV movie |
1989–1992
| Miles Webber, Rose's boyfriend | (Seasons 5-7) (12 episodes) |
1990
| Dallas | Dr. Wexler | Season 13 Episode 26: "Three, Three, Three: Part 1" |
1990
| Dallas | Dr. Wexler | Season 13 Episode 27: "Three, Three, Three: Part 2" |
1990
| Nathan Singer | 4 episodes |
1992
| Colonel Stonesteel | Season 5 Episode 4: "Colonel Stonesteel and the Desperate Empties" |
1992
| Miles Webber, Rose's ex-boyfriend | Season 1 Episode 3: "Miles, We Hardly Knew Ye" |
1993
| Miles Webber, Rose's ex-boyfriend | Season 1 Episode 13: "Rose and Fern" |
1994
| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Edwin Griffin | Season 2 Episode 4: "The Prankster" |
1995
| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Edwin Griffin | Season 2 Episode 15: "The Return of the Prankster" |
1996
| Gerry | Season 2 Episode 17: "Paradise" |
1996
| For Hope | David 'Dave' Altman | TV movie |
1996
| Sam Moskowitz | Season 3 Episode 5: "Written in Dust" |
1997
| Dr. Gustav Stumpfel | TV movie |
1998
| Felicity | Dr. William Garibay | Season 1 Episode 3: "Hot Objects" |
1999
| Judge Solomon Stein | Season 5 Episode 6: "Hostile Witness" |
2000
| Irv Glassman | Season 2 Episode 19: "Surprise Artie" |
2001
| Season 7 Episode 22: "The Face of God" |
2003
| Arthur | Season 4 Episode 15: "Maxine Interrupted" |
2008
| Monty Moran '08 | Season 6 Episode 9: "Pin Up Girl" |
2010
| Nip/Tuck | Walter Krieger | Season 6 Episode 18: "Walter and Edith Krieger" |
= Theatre =
- The House of Blue Leaves (1970) – Artie Shaughnessy – Truck and Warehouse Theatre, New York City, NY
- The Skin of Our Teeth (1983) – Mr. Antrobus – Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA
- The Substance of Fire (1996) – Isaac Geldhart – Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA
- Visiting Mr. Green (1999) – Mr. Green – Pasadena Playhouse
- Old Wicked Songs (2002) – Professor Josef Mashkan – Rubicon Theatre Company
- Tuesdays with Morrie (2005) – Morrie Schwartz – Rubicon Theatre Company
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography|Theatre|Film|Television}}
- {{IMDb name|332390}}
- {{tcmdb name|id=74516|name=Harold Gould}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name|18793}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Harold}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:Actors from Schenectady, New York
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California
Category:Jewish American male actors
Category:Jewish American military personnel
Category:Military personnel from New York (state)
Category:Obie Award recipients