Tony Winner & Emmy Nominee Fritz Weaver Dies at the Age of 90

Fritz Weaver, the stage and screen performer who won a Tony Award in 1970, has died at the age of 90. His death was confirmed to The New York Times by his son-in-law, Bruce Ostler.

Weaver earned a Tony in 1970 for his leading performance in Robert Marasco’s Catholic school-set Child’s Play; his co-star Ken Howard also won for Featured Actor in a Play. Weaver had previously been nominated for his 1955 Broadway debut in The Chalk Garden.

Born on January 19, 1926 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Weaver studied physics at the University of Chicago before moving to New York to take acting classes at the Herbert Bergof Studio. One year prior to his Broadway debut, he made his first off-Broadway appearance in The Way of the World at the Cherry Lane Theater.

Weaver’s myriad additional Broadway credits included Baker Street, Protective Custody, The Power and the Glory, Peer Gynt, Henry IV, The Price, Love Letters, The Crucible, and, most recently, Ring Round the Moon.

On screen, Weaver starred in the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust, for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also appeared in the film The Congressman, which premiered earlier this year.

Following his divorce with his first wife, Sylvia Short, Weaver married actress Rochelle Oliver in 1997. He is survived by her, their children Lydia and Anthony, and a grandson.