Actor Ben Gazzara Dies at 81

Actor Ben Gazzara has passed away due to pancreatic cancer, according to published reports. He was 81 years old.

Gazzara's career lasted more than five decades in film, television and stage. He made his Broadway debut in END AS A MAN in 1953 as Jocko de Paris; he would reprise the role in the 1957 film, titled 'The Strange One.' 

He became known to theatre audiences, however, for his turn as Brick in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, which opened in March 1955, and as Johnny Pope in A HATFUL OF RAIN the following year; the latter garnered Gazzara a Tony nomination. In 1975, Gazzara received another nod for the double bill HUGHIE/DUET and earned a third Tony nomination for WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf in 1976.

Gazzara would return to the Broadway stage two more times following VIRGINA WOOLF: in 1992's SHIMADA and 2006's AWAKE AND SING. 

His many television and film credits include NBC's 'Run for Your Life' from 1965 to 1968, which earned him two Emmy nominations, and the 1985 TV movie 'An Early Frost.'

Gazzara is survived by daughters Elizabeth and Danja as well as a brother, Anthony.