Donald Moffat, Tony-Nominated Actor of Stage & Screen, Dies at 87

Donald Moffat, a multi-talented actor who thrived in theater works ranging from Shakespeare to O'Neill, passed away on December 20 in Sleepy Hollow, New York, according to The New York Times. The cause of death was complications from a stroke. Moffat was 87.

Born on December 26, 1930 in England, Moffat studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His stage career began at the Old Vic, soon moving to New York at age 26 and landing a Broadway-debut turn in Under Milk Wood (1957).

Moffat continued working on Broadway steadily, with performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1959), The Tumbler (1960), Duel of Angels (1960), A Passage to India (1962), The Affair (1962), You Can't Take It With You (1965) and The School for Scandal (1966).

Several credits into his Broadway career, Moffat earned a pair of Tony nominations in the same season, for his turns in Right You Are If You Think You Are (1966) and The Wild Duck (1967). His other main-stem credits include War and Peace (1967), The Cherry Orchard (1968), Cock-a-Doodle Dandy (1969), Hamlet (1969), Father's Day (1971), Play Memory (1984), The Iceman Cometh (1985) and The Heiress (1995), which marked his final Broadway turn.

Moffat's many screen roles include memorable performances on the series One Life to Live (1968-1969) and Logan's Run (1977-1978) and in the films The Thing (1982), Music Box (1989) and Clear and Present Danger (1994).

Moffat's rich off-Broadway résumé was highlighted by a pair of performances at the Public Theater's Delacorte venue in Central Park: He was celebrated for a turn as Falstaff in Henry IV Part I (1987) and played the title role in Titus Andronicus (1989). Moffat earned an Obie Award for his turn alongside Frances Conroy and Marian Seldes in Tina Howe's Painting Churches (1983) and won acclaim as Mr. Martin/Grandfather Jack in a dual staging of Ionesco's The Bald Soprano/Jack, or the Submission (1958).

Moffat is survived by his wife, three daughters, a son, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.