John Cunningham, Hollywood Father Figure and Prolific Broadway Performer, Dies at 93

John Cunningham, whose decades-spanning career included 18 Broadway productions, died on January 6, 2026 in his Rye, New York estate. He was 93. The son of a high school principal, Cunningham was raised in New Paltz, New York. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Cunningham had a stint in the army, where he was as a member of the Seventh Army Repertory Company. While in the armed forces, Cunningham developed a lifelong friendship with future television host Dick Cavett. Through the GI Bill, Cunningham was able to attain a master’s degree from Yale Drama School.

Cunningham caught his big break when he successfully fielded an audition with Moss Hart for an international tour of My Fair Lady in 1960. Cast as Hungarian phonetician Zoltan (as well as the understudy for Henry Higgins), Cunningham spent more than two years on the tour, which included a stop in the Soviet Union. In a 1986 interview with The New York Times, Cunningham described it as “the last of the great railroad tours.''

After My Fair Lady wrapped, Cunningham made his Broadway debut in the 1963 Judy Holliday vehicle Hot Spot. Three years later, he succeeded Bert Convy as Clifford Bradshaw in the original staging of Cabaret. He followed this up with stints in Zorba and 1776.

In 1970, Cunningham was cast in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s marital-themed musical Company as the soon-to-be-divorced Peter. He can be seen in the legendary documentary Original Cast Album: Company, which captures the recording of the show’s score. Eventually, Cunningham took over for the lead role of Bobby.

Onscreen, Cunningham often played stern father figures, as was the case in Mystic Pizza and Dead Poets Society. In the former, he played Adam Storke and Matt Damon’s father, the latter featured a young Ethan Hawke as his son. His other screen credits include School Ties, For Love or Money and John Singleton’s 2000 remake of Shaft. After starring alongside Stockard Channing in the Broadway cast of Six Degrees of Separation, he was cast in its 1993 film adaptation, albeit in a different role. He can be heard narrating a motivational “How to Be a Man” tape to comic effect in In & Out and as a newsreel announcer in Starship Troopers.

Cunningham’s last theatrical outing was in 2012 when he performed in the off-Broadway play Painting Churches at age 80. His other notable stage appearances include Broadway productions of The Sisters Rosensweig, Titanic and Sunday in the Park with George. In a 1997 interview with Playbill, Cunningham said: “My whole pleasure is trying to get better. So my ritual is to take time with myself, review what has happened, prepare myself so that inspiration can happen to me in the moment onstage. Be prepared to be alive.” He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Cotton Cunningham, his three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.