Richard Stahl


Richard Stahl was an American actor who mostly appeared in comic roles on television and in films.

Early life

A native of Detroit, Stahl moved to California when he was 15. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Army. After, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. In 1959, he was appearing in off-Broadway productions when he met his wife to be, Kathryn Ish. In the 1960s, they relocated to San Francisco and became members of an improvisational comedy group, The Committee.

Career

Stahl's film credits include Five Easy Pieces, High Anxiety, 9 to 5, and Ghosts of Mississippi.
He appeared in many TV situation comedies and in occasional dramas, including Columbo, The Odd Couple, Harry O, Barney Miller, Laverne & Shirley, Newhart, and Empty Nest.
Stahl co-starred in the short-lived comedy mini-series Turnabout ; and between 1985 and 1989 was a regular on the sitcom It's a Living.

Personal life and death

Stahl died aged 74, on June 18, 2006, at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Health Center in Los Angeles, after a 10-year struggle against Parkinson's disease.
Stahl's wife, actress Kathryn Ish, died of cancer in Santa Barbara, California, on December 31, 2007.

Filmography

Television

TitleNotesRef
That Girl
The Partridge Family
Bonanza
Love American Style
Columbo
All in the Family
Good Times
What's Happening!!
The Odd Couple
Maude
The Rookies
Happy Days
Harry O
McMillan & Wife
The Bob Newhart Show
WKRP in Cincinnati
Soap
Benson
Barney Miller
Laverne & Shirley
Hill Street Blues
The Facts of Life
Family Ties
Who's the Boss?
Highway to Heaven
Newhart
Simon & Simon
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Murder, She Wrote
Night Court
Golden Girls
Empty Nest
Married... with Children