Allan Rich, actor who overcame Hollywood blacklist to star in 'Serpico,' 'Quiz Show,' dies at 94

Allan Rich, the esteemed character actor who persevered through the Hollywood blacklist to star in films such as "Serpico," "Amistad," "Quiz Show" and on TV's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," has died at age 94.

The longtime social activist Rich died peacefully Saturday of progressive dementia at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, his family said in a statement.

"I am grateful to my father for giving me the love of the theater, playfulness, a big heart and a commitment to social justice," his daughter Marian tells USA TODAY over email.

Rich starred as District Attorney Herman Tauber working with Al Pacino's crusading detective in "Serpico," (1973) and embattled NBC president Robert Kintner in director Robert Redford's "Quiz Show" (1994). He played Demi Moore's attorney in Barry Levinson's "Disclosure" (1994) and Judge Juttson in Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" (1997).

Rich memorably portrayed a Holocaust survivor who argued over who had to endure more with a "Survivor" reality show contestant during a dinner party in a 2004 episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

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Rob Morrow, who starred with Rich in "Quiz Show," paid tribute on Monday. "RIP #AllanRich one of the good ones," he tweeted.

Born Benjamin Norman Schultz in the Bronx, New York, on Feb. 8, 1926, he changed his name to Rich and made his Broadway debut in the 1943 production of "I'll Take the High Road," produced by Milton Berle. Berle and Rich became life-long friends with Rich part of Berle's inner circle "that regularly held court at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills," says his lawyer David Albert Pierce.

Rich also appeared in the Broadway productions of "Career Angel" (1944), "Darkness at Noon" (1951) and "The Emperor's Clothes" (1953).

Rich was a rising stage actor in the 1950s when he was branded a communist and blacklisted. Rich believed it was because his Theater Action Committee had been working to free Willie McGee, a Black man from Mississippi convicted of rape in 1945 and subsequently electrocuted in 1951. Rich was abruptly fired from NBC’s "The Philco Television Playhouse" in 1953.

But in 1966, he once again appeared onstage in “Journey of the Fifth Horse,” with a young Dustin Hoffman. Rich got his big break when he was cast as the district attorney in director Sidney Lumet's "Serpico."

He moved to Hollywood in 1976, where his filmography grew to include nearly 200 roles. His TV appearances included "All in the Family," "Baretta," "Kojak," "NYPD Blue," "Barney Miller," "Happy Days,"  various roles on "The Nanny" (from 1993-97) and the recurring role of Judge Maurice Schiller on "Hill Street Blues."

Rich developed his own acting technique, detailed in his book "A Leap From the Method," which included students such as Sharon Stone, Jamie Lee Curtis and Rene Russo. 

Curtis wrote on Twitter about Rich: "I never took acting classes but once met with him for a private class. After we did a scene he told me I knew how to pretend to be other people and that I just needed to expand my choices, art, music, books, travel. Great advice. RIP A.R."

"He lived large and was quite heroic to many including me when faced with the depths of despair. He had a great intellect and excelled in everything he set his mind to," longtime friend Fran Drescher said of Rich. "He was always on the side of good and right.”

Rich’s wife of 62 years, Elaine, a well-known Hollywood manager, died in 2015. At the Actors Fund Home, he was a passionate member of the acting club.

"In his final years at the Actors Home he thrived after my mother passed," says Marian Rich. "For a guy who dropped out of Taft High School in the Bronx, he did good!"

He is survived by his son, David, and daughter-in-law, Wendy, his daughter, Marian, and son-in-law, Ed, and his two grandchildren, Julia and Ruby. He lost his beloved grandson Miles in 2019.