Actor Ken Howard, the strapping, versatile character actor who starred in the 1970s drama The White Shadow and served as president of SAG-AFTRA, has died at age 71.
The union announced Howard’s death on Wednesday. No cause of death was given.
Howard’s career spanned four decades in TV, theater and film. In the acclaimed CBS series The White Shadow, which aired from 1978 to 1981, he starred as a white coach to an urban high school basketball team – a part, one of Howard’s best known, that drew on the personal history of the 6ft 6in actor, who played basketball growing up on Long Island in New York and at Amherst College.
He was a staple on TV, starring opposite Blythe Danner in Adam’s Rib on ABC in the 1970s and appearing as the chipper Kabletown boss Hank Hooper on NBC’s 30 Rock some 40 years later.
In early seasons of NBC’s Crossing Jordan, which premiered in 2001, he played the father of star Jill Hennessy, a retired police detective who gave behind-the-scenes advice to his daughter, a crime-solving forensic pathologist. He starred opposite Jimmy Smits in the 2007 CBS drama Cane.
Howard played Thomas Jefferson on Broadway in 1776, a role he reprised in the 1972 film. He won a Tony award for Robert Marasco’s Catholic boarding school drama Child’s Play.
After making his film debut opposite Liza Minnelli in 1970’s Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, Howard’s films included Rambo, In Her Shoes, Michael Clayton, and last year’s Joy, which starred Jennifer Lawrence. He won an Emmy for his performance in HBO’s film Grey Gardens in 2009.
He was also familiar to viewers of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, providing an update on the union’s accomplishments during the televised awards ceremony.
Howard was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 2009 and was a catalyst for its 2012 merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union. Combined, the groups represent 160,000 actors, broadcasters and recording artists.
Howard was the first president of SAG-AFTRA and was re-elected to the post last year.
“Ken was a remarkable leader and his powerful vision for this union was a source of inspiration for all of us,” SAG-AFTRA’s executive director, David White, wrote in a statement. “He was an exceptional person and we are deeply saddened by his passing. He had a remarkable career and he never forgot what it was like to be a working performer.”
Howard was born 28 March 1944 in El Centro, California. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, stuntwoman Linda Fetters Howard, and had three adult stepchildren from a previous marriage.