Roger De Koven

Roger De Koven was an American actor on stage, radio, television and film, known for his versatility, and, in particular, for his portrayals of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. in the Broadway musical, Funny Girl, and of Professor Jason Allen in the landmark anti-war—and anti-Nazi—radio drama Against the Storm. H appeared frequently on Grand Central Station, Dimension X, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, and—while employed as leading man/director of a stock company in the mid-1930s—directed the young Danny Kaye.

Early life and career

A native of Chicago, Illinois, DeKoven was one of seven children born to Bernard DeKoven and Clara Turner. His father was a Russian-born Jew known for his active participation in Zionist affairs and Jewish charitable work.
Following his graduation from John Marshall High School, DeKoven attended the University of Chicago, Northwestern, and Columbia. He made his Broadway debut in 1926 in Franz Werfel's Juarez and Maximilian. That same year, De Koven performed with Moscow's Habima Theatre troupe during their tour of the US.
In 1940, De Koven appeared at The New School for Social Research in Shakespeare's King Lear, playing Edmund to Sam Jaffe's Lear.
Variety's Tom Morse, at the conclusion of his article assessing Off Broadway's 1965–1966 season, includes de Koven's performance in Deadly Game—an adaptation of Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt's A Dangerous Game—in his list of the year's outstanding performances. Of his performance as Paul Hirsch in the touring company of Leonard Spigelgass's Dear Me, the Sky is Falling, reviewed at the Tappan Zee Playhouse, Nyack Journal-News critic Mariruth Campbell writes, "DeKoven gives the role wondrous value by impressing the audience with Paul's basic solidity while seemingly the too-easily led marriage partner. He clearly shows Paul admires as well as adores his fix-it mama." Regarding De Koven's portrayal of Justice Lawrence Walgrave in a 1969 production of Agatha Christie's 10 Little Indians, Home News drama critic Ernest Albrecht notes, "DeKoven is particularly good at making an enormous change in character go down without our gagging on it."

Personal life and death

From June 6, 1927, DeKoven was married to the former Mina Meltz. They had two children.
On January 28, 1988, DeKoven died of cancer at his home in Manhattan.

Acting credits

Stage

Radio

Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Refs.
1943		NA	A Christmas Carol
1949	The Big Story	NA	"Frank Shenkel of the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph"
1957	Camera Three	Imre Nagy	"The United Nations Hungarian Report"
1958	The Investigator	NA
1958	Camera Three	Social man	"The Necessity for Solitude"
1961	The Detectives	NA	"One Lucky Break"
1962	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Nate	"A Piece of the Action"
1965	Eavesdrop	Himself	3/28 episode of local talk show on KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, hosted by Marie Torre and Bill Burns
March 12, 1967	The Vine	NA	Life of Christ recreated with strictly non-pros onscreen; other actors heard inc. Douglass Watson, John Heffernan, Nancy Marchand, Whitfield Connor and Barnard Hughes.
1978	Trial in Heaven	NA	"A Fable for the Day of Atonement" starring Lou Jacobi, with De Koven, Albert M. Ottenheimer, Jacqueline Brookes, Marilyn Chris
1979	Guiding Light	NA