Stage and Screen Actor Bruce French Dies at 79

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that stage and screen actor Bruce French has passed away at age 79 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease.

French is best known for his recurring role as Father Lonigan on the NBC daytime drama Passions, appearing in over four hundred episodes between 1999 and 2008. 

French also played Jim Burns, the wealthy neighbor of the Malloy family, on The Riches. He also portrayed a number of different characters across the Star Trek universe, including the empath adjutant to Jean Simmons in the episode "The Drumhead." French also contributed his voice to Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama in 1981.

French's notable film roles include checkout man in Frank Perry's Man on a Swing, as well as a brief role as a reporter in Jurassic Park III and a pathologist in Fletch.

Among his theatre credits, French performed at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Rep, Pacific Resident Theatre and more. Notably, he performed in Waiting for Godot at Ralph Waite’s Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre, which was filmed for KCET’s Theatre in America series in 1977.