Norman Fell

Norman Fell (born Norman Noah Feld, March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998), was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers. and his film roles in Ocean's 11 (1961), The Graduate (1967), and Bullitt (1968). Early in his career, he was billed as Norman Feld.[1][2]

Norman Fell
Fell in 1970
Born	Norman Noah Feld (1924-03-24)March 24, 1924 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 14, 1998(1998-12-14) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles
Education	Central High School of Philadelphia
Alma mater	Temple University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1955–1998
Television	Three's Company
Spouse(s)	Dolores Pikoos ​ ( m. 1951; div. 1954) Diane Weiss ​ ( m. 1961; div. 1973) Karen Weingard ​ ( m. 1975; div. 1995)

Early life

Fell was born on March 24, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Edna Feld. His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews.[3] Samuel was a restaurateur and the family lived at 416 South 4th Street. He attended Central High School of Philadelphia.[4] He studied drama at Temple University after serving as a tail gunner on a B-25 Mitchell in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.[5] He later honed his craft at The Actors Studio[6] and the Black Hills Players.[7]

Career

Aside from Fell's best-known television work, he also played minor character roles in several films, including the original Ocean's 11, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, PT 109, The Graduate, Bullitt and Catch-22 (as Sergeant Towser). He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, The Killers. In 1992, he starred as a Hotel owner in a comedy movie called Hexed.

On TV, Fell portrayed Mike in Joe and Mabel (1955–1956),[8]^:536 Meyer Meyer in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct (1961–1962),[8]^:302 Charles Wilentz in Dan August (1970–1971),[8] Nathan Davidson in Needles and Pins (1973),[8]^:748 Bernie Solkin in Executive Suite (1976-1977),[8]^:316 Richie's father in Richie Brockelman, Private Eye (1978),[8]^:893 and Ben Cooper in Teachers Only (1982–1983).[8]^:1056

From 1977 to 1979, Fell portrayed the main characters' hardnosed landlord Stanley Roper on the hit sitcom Three's Company[8]^:1080–1081 (a role with some similarities to Mr. McCleery in The Graduate). He continued the role as the co-lead with Audra Lindley playing his wife, Helen, on The Ropers,[8]^:910 a spin-off which lasted two seasons.

Fell won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role in 1979 for Three's Company.[9] He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his dramatic performance as the boxing trainer of Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte) in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man.[10] His final television appearance was a cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in 1997.

Personal life

On May 21, 1950, Fell married Dolores Pikoos in Philadelphia.[11] They divorced in 1954 and Fell married and divorced two subsequent times. He had two daughters, Tracy and Mara, with his second wife and adopted a son with his third wife, Karen Weingard.[5]

Death

On November 26 (Thanksgiving Day) of 1998, Fell had become too weak to get out of bed at his Marina del Rey home. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.[5] He died at the Motion Picture and Television's retirement home in Woodland Hills, California on December 14, 1998 at the age of 74.[12] He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	The Violators	Ray
1959	Pork Chop Hill	Sgt. Coleman
1960	Inherit the Wind	WGN Radio Technician
	The Rat Race	Telephone Repairman
	Ocean's 11	Peter Rheimer
1963	PT 109	Machinist Edmund Drewitch
	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Detective at Grogan's Crash Site
1964	The Killers	Mickey Farmer
	Quick, Before it Melts	George Snell
	The Young Warriors	Sergeant Wadley
1967	Fitzwilly	Oberblatz
	The Graduate	Mr. McCleery
1968	Sergeant Ryker	Sgt. Max Winkler	(archive footage)
	The Secret War of Harry Frigg	Capt. Stanley
	The Young Runaways	Mr. Donford
	Bullitt	Captain Baker
1969	If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium	Harve Blakely
1970	Catch-22	First Sgt. Towser
	The Boatniks	Max
1973	The Stone Killer	Lt. Les Daniels Captain of Detectives LAPD
	Charley Varrick	Mr. Garfinkle
1974	Airport 1975	Bill
1975	Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold	Stanley Nagel
1976	Guardian of the Wilderness
1978	Rabbit Test	Segoynia's Father
	The End	Dr. Samuel Krugman
1981	Crunch	?
	On the Right Track	The Mayor
	Heartbreak High	Jack McGuire
	Paternity	Larry
1985	Transylvania 6-5000	Mac Turner
1987	Stripped to Kill	Ray
1989	C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.	Tyler
1990	You're Driving Me Crazy	Doctor 'F'
1991	With Friends Like These...	Narrator	Direct-to-Video Release
	The Boneyard	Shepard	Direct-to-Video Release
	For the Boys	Sam Schiff
1992	The Naked Truth	The Dentist
1993	Hexed	Herschel Levine
1996	The Destiny of Marty Fine	Daryl
	Beach House	The Landlord

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	The Elgin Hour	Morton	Episode: Hearts and Hollywood
	Westinghouse Studio One	Juror #1	Episode: Twelve Angry Men
	The Philco Television Playhouse		Episode: Miss Look-Alike
	Goodyear Television Playhouse		Episode: The Huntress
1955	Joe and Mabel	Mike
1956	The Alcoa Hour	Marvie	Episode: Finkle's Comet
	Star Tonight	Sharp	Episode: Faith and Patience
	Playwrights '56	Nick Zervas	Episode: Nick and Letty
	The United States Steel Hour	Detective	Episode: Hunted
1959	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Wint Selby	Episode: Ah, Wilderness!
1960	Johnny Staccato	Bill Lentz	Episode: The Man in the Pit
	Perry Mason	Caspar Pedley	Episode: The Case of the Mythical Monkeys
	The Untouchables	Reiner	Episode: The Rusty Heller Story
	The Tom Ewell Show		Episode: Salesmanship Lesson
1961	The Law and Mr. Jones	Fred Cook	Episode: Lethal Weapons
	The Tab Hunter Show	Emory Farnsworth	Episode: Me and My Shadow
	Peter Gunn	Danny Carmichael	Episode: A Kill and a Half
	The Aquanauts	Oliver Pappas	Episode: The Rainbow Adventure
	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Cole	Episode: Be It Ever So Humble
	Checkmate	Shep Stryker	Episode: Hot Wind in a Cold Town
	Cain's Hundred	Driscoll	Episode: Cain's Final Judgement
1962	Sam Benedict	Alex McConnell	Episode: Where There's a Will
1961–1962	87th Precinct	Det. Meyer Meyer	Episode: The Floater Episode: Man in a Jam
1963	The Eleventh Hour	Lionel	Episode: Five Moments Out of Time
	The Lloyd Bridges Show		Episode: Gym in January Episode: Sheridan Square
	The Dick Powell Show	Dr. Joseph Greer	Episode: The Last of the Big Spenders
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Sgt. Max Winkler	Episode: The Case Against Paul Ryker (1) Episode: The Case Against Paul Ryker (2)
	East Side/West Side	Eddie Best	Episode: Not Bad for Openers
	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Al Norman	Episode: The Dividing Wall
1964	The Defenders	George Capp	Episode: Moment of Truth
	The Hanged Man	Gaylord Grebb	TV-Movie
1965	Mr. Novak	Barney Sanders	Episode: And Then I Wrote...
	The Trials of O'Brien	Mickey the Miser	Episode: How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?
	Dr. Kildare	Dr. Keith Myers Arnold Vitnack
	The Fugitive	Lt. Germak Lt. Green	Episode: May God Have Mercy Episode: Stranger in the Mirror
1964–1965	Ben Casey	Arnold Halbert Manny Berger	Episode: I'll Get on My Ice Floe and Wave Goodbye Episode: Where Does the Boomerang Go?
1966	The Wild Wild West	Jeremiah Ratch	Episode: The Night of the Whirring Death
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Mark Slate	Episode: The Moonglow Affair
	A Man Called Shenandoah	Capt. Arnold Dudley	Episode: Muted Fifes, Muffled Drums
	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Eddie Carr	Episode: Dear Deductible
	Bewitched	Dr. Freud	Episode: I'd Rather Twitch Than Fight
1964–1966	Twelve O'Clock High	Lt. Canello	Episode: An Act of War Episode: The All-American
1967	The Invaders	Neal Taft	Episode: The Betrayed
	Ghostbreakers	Lt. P.J. Hartunain	TV Pilot
	I Spy	Karin	Episode: The Medarra Block
	Mannix	Daniel Brewer	Episode: Coffin for a Clown
1968	That Girl	Bernie	Episode: Sixty-Five on the Aisle
	Judd, for the Defense	Harry Green	Episode: The Sound of the Plastic Axe
1969	The Name of the Game	Winston Polk	Episode: A Hard Case of the Blues
	Three's a Crowd	Norman, the Elevator Operator	TV-Movie
1965–1969	The F.B.I.	Ted Cullinan Ken Haney Victor Green	Episode: All the Streets Are Silent Episode: The Mercenary Episode: The Catalyst
1967–1969	Ironside	Capt. Lauren Lt. Haines	Episode: An Inside Job Episode: Seeing Is Believing
1970	Double Jeopardy	Sgt. Charles Wilentz	TV-Movie
1971	The Partridge Family	Mr. Bruner	Episode: The Undergraduate
1970–1971	Dan August	Sgt. Charles Wilentz
1972	O'Hara, U.S. Treasury	Leo Walsh	Episode: Operation – Smokescreen
	The Heist	Pat Dillon	TV-Movie
	McCloud	Lt. Ed Feldman	Episode: The Park Avenue Rustlers
1969–1972	Love, American Style		Segment: Love and the Good Deal Segment: Love and the Clinic
1973	Marcus Welby, M.D.		Episode: Catch a Ring That Isn't There
	Going Places	Mr. Shaw	TV-Movie
	Needles and Pins	Nathan Davidson
	Griff		Episode: Hammerlock
1974	Medical Center	Frank	Episode: The World's Balloon
	Thursday's Game	Melvin Leonard	TV-Movie
1975	Death Stalk	Frank Cody	TV-Movie
	McMillan & Wife	Allan Kovacs	Episode: Love, Honor and Swindle
	Lucas Tanner	Abe Lydecker	Episode: The Noise of a Quiet Weekend
	Rhoda	Dr. Henry Gerber	Episode: Chest Pains Episode: Ida's Doctor
	Cannon	Police Lieutenant	Episode: The Games Children Play
	Starsky & Hutch	Sammy Grovner	Episode: Shootout
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man	Smitty	Mini-Series Emmy Award (nominated)
	Ellery Queen	Errol Keyes	Episode: The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley
	Risko	Max	Unsold TV-Pilot
	The Bionic Woman	Milt Bigelow	Episode: In This Corner, Jaime Sommers
	The Streets of San Francisco	Juror	Episode: The Thrill Killers (1) Episode: The Thrill Killers (2)
	Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours	Mr. Brockelman	TV-Movie
	Switch		Episode: Gaffing the Skim
	Executive Suite	Bernie	Episode: Re-The Sounds of Silence
1977	The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams		Episode: The Redemption of Ben
	Charlie's Angels	Sammy	Episode: Angels in Paradise
1974–1977	Police Story	Sgt. Dell Lieutenant Alfred Thornwood	Episode: Wolf Episode: One of Our Cops is Crazy
1978	The Love Boat	Mr. McCoy, Julie's Father	Episode: Julie's Dilemma/Who's Who/Rocky
1979	Roots: The Next Generations	Bernie Raymond	Mini-Series
1980	Getting There	Jim	TV-Movie
	This Year's Blonde	Pat Toledo	TV-Movie
	For the Love of It	Hall	TV-Movie
1976–1981	Three's Company	Stanley Roper	Golden Globe Award (won)
1979–1980	The Ropers	Stanley Roper
1982	Teachers Only	Ben Cooper
	Matt Houston	Herman	Episode: Joey's Here
1983	Uncommon Valor	Garvin	TV-Movie
1984	The Jesse Owens Story	Marty Forkins	TV-Movie
1985	Simon & Simon	Leo Nyquist	Episode: Facets
1986	Webster	Charlie	Episode: Almost Home
	The Twilight Zone	Eddie O'Hara	Episode: The Convict's Piano
1985–1986	Crazy Like a Fox		Episode: Some Day My Prints Will Come Episode: A Fox at the Races
1987	Magnum, P.I.	David Albertson	Episode: Solo Flight
	Matlock	Dr. Norman Radburn	Episode: The Doctors
	Out of This World	Dr. Hauser	Episode: The Nightmare
	Sledge Hammer!		Episode: They Call Me Mr. Trunk
1985–1988	Murder, She Wrote	Vince Shackman Lt. Rupp	Episode: Dead Heat Episode: Just Another Fish Story
1989	The Boys	Dave
	Hooperman	Pete Cosgrove, Ventriloquist	Episode: Dog Day Afternoon, Morning and Night
	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!	Fred Van Winkle Ted Bull	Episode: Fred Van Winkle Episode: Texas Tea
1990	Good Grief	Slezar	Episode: The Good, the Bad and the Mariachis
1993	Flying Blind	Employer #2	Episode: Panic in Neil's Park
1994	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	The Landlord	Episode: What's Will Got to Do With It?
1995	Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare	Grandpa Joe Dooley	TV-Movie
1996	The Naked Truth	Himself	Episode: 5 Bully for Dave
1997	Ellen	Mr. Roper	Episode: Roommates

References

1. Norman Fell. IMDb.
2. Norman Feld Internet Broadway Database.
3. "Family Search".
4. "Singers Ask for City Base". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 1, 1956. p. 17. Retrieved July 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Lipton, Michael A. (January 11, 1999). "Grouch Potato". People. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
6. Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-0254-2650-4.
7. "Black Hills Players Open Season Saturday". Rapid City Journal. June 16, 1950. p. 4. Retrieved July 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
9. "Golden Globe Awards for 'Norman Fell'". Golden Globe Awards. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
10. "Awards Search: Norman Fell". Emmys. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
11. "Dolores Pikoos Becomes Bride of Norman Feld". The News-Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. May 24, 1950. p. 28. Retrieved July 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "TV, Movie Actor Norman Fell Dies". The Washington Post. December 16, 1998.

External links

• Norman Fell on IMDb
• Norman Fell at the Internet Broadway Database (as Norman Feld)
• Norman Fell at the TCM Movie Database
• Norman Fell at Find a Grave