Edward Herrmann, RIP

Long ago, I interviewed character actor Edward Herrmann for the Disney Publicity Department (I was moonlighting from Disney Feature Animation). Edward H. was promoting two features: Take Down, an indie that the company had picked up for distribution, and The North Avenue Irregulars, an in-house Disney comedy, mildly amusing and moderately competent, as many Disney live-action comedies were in the late seventies.

I still remember how Eward Herrmann talked about lunching with Laurence Olivier (when they were making The Betsy) and asking Olivier about the actor's "inspired strategy" of doing plays, followed by films, followed by more plays thereby brilliantly shaping his long and distinguished career. Laurence O. set Mr. Herrmann straight:

"Dear boy, I didn't plan ANY of it. I finished one thing and then looked around desperately for what was available to do next. There was no strategy, no master plan."

That anecdote has stayed with me for thirty-five years. Herrmann was then a young, rising actor. But now ...

Edward Herrmann, the versatile, honey-voiced actor whose roles included patricians and politicians such as "Gilmore Girls" father Richard Gilmore, "The Practice" law professor Anderson Pearson and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, has died. He was 71. ...

"Besides being an accomplished actor, was also a true gentleman and a scholar, as well as being an incredibly kind and decent man. He will be sorely missed," Robbie Kass, Herrmann's manager told CNN.

"My friend Ed Herrmann was the kindest, classiest, most talented man. It was an honor and a joy to know him, a devastating blow to lose him," tweeted Lauren Graham, who starred as Lorelai Gilmore in "Gilmore Girls."

Over a career that stretched over more than four decades, Herrmann was rarely the star but always a standout. ... He was nominated twice for Emmys for his portrayal of FDR, first in the TV movie "Eleanor and Franklin" (1976) and then in the next year's "Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years." (He also played Roosevelt in the 1982 movie version of "Annie.")

He won a Tony for his performance in a 1976 revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession." His performance in "The Practice" led to his only Emmy win. ...

Edward Herrmann didn't do, so far as I know, any voice work in cartoon land. However ...

He was an iron man of voiceover work and narration, doing everything from Dodge commercials to the History docu “Giganto: The Real King Kong.” He even lent his resonant pipes to voicing Rick Blaine in the 1998 audiobook rendition of “Casablanca” prequel novel “As Time Goes By.” Lynn Redgrave was his Elsa. ...

Sleep well, Mr. Herrmann. You had a long, illustrious career.