Richard Schaal (; May 5, 1928 – November 4, 2014) was an American film and television actor born in Chicago, Illinois.
Career In 1962, Schaal joined Chicago's famed Second City, becoming skilled in sketch and improvisational comedy. Schaal and Valerie Harper wrote "Love and the Visitor" (1970) for Love, American Style, a TV series. He was featured in a number of episodes of the 1970s sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show (where he played no fewer than four different characters: Howard Arnell, his brother Paul, Chuckles the Clown and Dino), The Bob Newhart Show (as three characters: Don Fezler, Don Livingston and Chuck Brock), Rhoda (as Charlie Burke) and Phyllis (23 episodes as Leo Heatherton). His earliest appearance with Mary Tyler Moore was in the 1966 Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Dear Sally Rogers" (billed as Dick Schaal).The Dick Van Dyke Show, "Dear Sally Rogers" (1966) In both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, he played alongside his then-wife, Valerie Harper. In 1983, he had a recurring role in Just Our Luck.
Personal life and death Schaal was born on May 5, 1928, in Chicago, the son of Victor Cornelius Schaal, a machinist, and Margaret Semple Waddell, a telephone operator.
Schaal was married three times, first to Lois Treacy, second to actress Valerie Harper, and third to Tasha Brittain.Northern Exposure: recurring characters, comcast.net; accessed November 7, 2014. With Treacy, he had one child, American actress Wendy Schaal.
Schaal died November 4, 2014, in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at age 86. No cause of death was provided. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.Staff (November 6, 2014) "Richard Schaal dies at 86; character actor was a Second City pioneer", Los Angeles Times. Accessed November 7, 2014.
Partial filmography Films Year Title Role1966 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Oscar Maxwell 1969 The Virgin President Hugh Mugababy 1969 The Cube The Man in the Cube 1972 Slaughterhouse-Five Howard W. Campbell Jr. 1973 Steelyard Blues Zoo Official Mel 1974 A Knife for the Ladies Ainslie 1979 Americathon Jerry 1980 The Hollywood Knights Nevans 1982 O'Hara's Wife Jerry Brad 1985 Once Bitten Mr. Kendall
Television Year Title Role Notes 1966 The Dick Van Dyke Show Stevie Parsons Episode: "Dear Sally Rogers" (as Dick Schall) 1967 That Girl Lost & Found Man Episode: "Gone with the Breeze" (as Dick Schall)1969I Dream of Jeannie Marvin Oglethorpe Episode: "Jeannie and the Secret Weapon" (as Dick Schaal)1970 The Mary Tyler Moore Show various, including Chuckles the Clown 4 episodes 1973 The Partridge Family Michaelangelo Rezo Episode: "Me and My Shadow" 1974 The Rockford Files Leonard Blair Ep: "Caledonia, It's Worth a Fortune!" 1975–1976 Phyllis Leo Heatherton Main cast (season 1) 1976 Rhoda Charlie Burke Ep: "Man of the House"1978Please Stand ByFrank LampertMain Cast, Elinore Donahue was cast as wife (replaced midseason) 1983 Just Our Luck Chuck Main cast 1988–1989 Almost Grown Dick Long Main cast
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