Actor George Segal with a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on February 14, 2017 in Los Angeles. The veteran actor died on Tuesday as a result of bypass surgery. Chris Pizzello / Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP Hide caption
Toggle labeling
Chris Pizzello / Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP
Actor George Segal with a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on February 14, 2017 in Los Angeles. The veteran actor died on Tuesday as a result of bypass surgery.
Chris Pizzello / Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP
Actor George Segal, who starred alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, died at the age of 87 after a career spanning more than 60 years on stage, film and television.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who recently completed an eighth season on the ABC show The Goldbergs, died Tuesday morning of complications from bypass surgery, his wife Sonia said in a statement.
“Today we lost a legend. It was a real honor to be a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy,” said the show’s creator Adam Goldberg, who cast Segal to play a comedic version of his own grandfather. wrote on twitter.
Today we lost a legend. It was a real honor to be a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy. By sheer fate, I picked the perfect person for Pops. Just like my grandfather, George was a child with a magical spark at heart. I think these memories say it all … pic.twitter.com/D1aNZuT20e
– Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) March 24, 2021
“I chose the perfect person for Pops by sheer fate. Just like my grandfather, George was a kid with a magical spark at heart,” added Goldberg.
Segal was born on February 13, 1932 and grew up in Great Neck, NY. He started his entertainment career as Banjo player and then served in the U.S. Army before graduating from Columbia University with a degree in drama.
Before stepping onto the stage as a leading man, a young and struggling Segal cleaned the toilets in New York’s Circle in the Square Theater. He made his debut in 1955 in a production of Moliere’s Don Juan. His first part on film came six years later. But it was his role as a young married professor in the 1966 classic, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf that got him on Hollywood’s A-list and earned him an Oscar nomination.
The adaptation of Edward Albee’s play, directed by Mike Nichols, earned Oscar nominations for the entire cast. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, and Segal were all ready for the golden statue, but only Taylor and Dennis won.
Although Segal has appeared in at least 70 films, his later career was largely revived by comedic television roles that made him relevant to younger audiences. After playing a number of “fathers” in films in the 1990s, he made the same transition to the small screen, particularly as the magazine-owned father on long-running NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me.
Since 2013 he has played a crazy and indulgent grandfather, Albert “Pops” Solomon, on the Goldbergs.
Abe Hoch, Segal’s manager and friend, said he was “saddened that my close friend and long-time customer has passed away”.
“I’ll miss his warmth, humor, camaraderie and friendship. He was a wonderful person,” added Hoch.
