Veteran Character Actor Harold Gould Dead at 86

Character actor Harold Gould is probably best known for his showy turn as the dapper Kid Twist in “The Sting,” Rhoda Morgenstern’s father in both the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” and later “Rhoda,” and his recurring role as a suitor of one of the “Golden Girls.” Regardless, anyone who watched network television, most especially during the 1970s, is as familiar with Gould’s flashy, gray mustache as they are with his warm and competent screen presence.

I remember Gould best from a “Sting”-like two-part episode of “The Rockford Files” called “Never Send a Boy King to do a Man’s Job” (two of my favorite hours of television … ever), where he plays Richie Brockelman’s dad. After a sleazy sports promoter steals away his business, Richie (Dennis Dugan) and Rockford (The Mighty James Garner) team up to swindle the thug out of a half-million dollars using a splendidly intricate con involving phony Egyptian artifacts and an ancient curse. There was also a storyline in the sitcom “Soap” where Gould played a twice-widowed heart attack patient who shares a hospital room with Billy Crystal’s Jodie. The old man mentors the younger man through a suicide attempt. Finally, there’s his small but memorable turn as Henry Winkler’s exasperated theatre director in Carl Reiner’s near-brilliant and criminally under-appreciated comedy “The One and Only.”

Purely by chance I came across Gould’s obituary late last night. He had the misfortune of dying Saturday, the same day as Kevin McCarthy, who along with the 9/11 remembrance ceremonies sucked all the air out of the news cycle. But like all great character actors, he’s deserving of our recognition and respect if only for the many, many moments of pleasure his presense gave us over the decades. There’s simply nothing quite like that moment — big screen or small — when the familiar face of a great character actor arrives. No matter how good or bad the production, you know things are about to improve because you’re now in the hands of a master.

According to IMDB, over a career that began in 1961 and ended this year with an appearance on “Nip/Tuck,” Harold Gould racked up 191 credits, not including his first love, the stage. He also served his country in WWII and is survived by three children and the woman he married in 1950.

Mr. Gould was 86 years old.