Stage and Screen Star George Segal Passes Away at 87

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that stage and screen star George Segal passed away yesterday following complications during surgery. He was 87 years old.

After college and the army, Segal studied at The Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen and got a job as an understudy in the 1956 off-Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh starring Jason Robards. He appeared in Antony and Cleopatra for Joseph Papp and joined an improvisational group called The Premise, which performed at a Bleecker Street coffeehouse and whose ranks included Buck Henry and Theodore J. Flicker.

Segal continued to perform on Broadway with roles in Gideon (1961-62) by Paddy Chayefsky, which ran for 236 performances, as well as Rattle of a Simple Man (1963), an adaptation of a British hit, with Tammy Grimes and Edward Woodward.

Some of his most acclaimed roles are in films such as Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Where's Poppa? (1970), The Hot Rock (1972), Blume in Love (1973), A Touch of Class (1973), California Split (1974), For the Boys (1991), and Flirting with Disaster (1996).

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and won two Golden Globe Awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in A Touch of Class.

On television, he is best known for his roles as Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me! (1997-2003) and as Albert "Pops" Solomon on The Goldbergs (2013-2021).

Segal was also an accomplished banjo player. He released three albums and performed with the instrument in several of his acting roles and on late-night television.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos