Harold Gould

For the baseball pitcher, see Harold Gould (baseball). For the American anthropologist, see Harold A. Gould.

Harold Gould
Gould in 2010
Born	Harold Vernon Goldstein (1923-12-10)December 10, 1923 Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2010(2010-09-11) (aged 86) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1961–2010
Spouse	Lea (Shampanier) Vernon ​ ​ (m. 1950)​
Children	3
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Battles / wars	World War II

Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom Rhoda (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1989–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in film and television for nearly 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men (as in The Sting), and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film.

Early life

Gould was born to a Jewish family in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Louis Goldstein, a postal worker, and Lillian, a homemaker who did part-time work for the state health department. Gould was raised in Colonie, New York, and was valedictorian of his high school class. He enrolled at Albany Teachers College upon graduation (now known as University at Albany, SUNY) and studied to become a social studies or English teacher.

After two years in college, Gould enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and saw combat in France in a mortar battalion. He developed trench foot and was sent to England to recover. After convalescence, Gould served in a rail transport unit in France.

After the war Gould returned to Albany Teachers College to study drama and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1947. He performed in summer stock theatre on Cape Cod and then decided to enroll at Cornell University to study drama and speech. Gould earned an M.A. degree in 1948 and a Ph.D. in theatre in 1953 from Cornell and also met his future wife, Lea Vernon.

Career

Upon graduation, Gould accepted a position at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he spent three years teaching and doing stage work. He made his professional theatre debut in 1955 as Thomas Jefferson in The Common Glory in Williamsburg.

In 1956, Gould was offered a professorship in the drama department at the University of California, Riverside, which he accepted. He taught there until 1960 when he decided to try professional acting himself. He had difficulty finding acting jobs at first and had to take work as a security guard and as a part-time acting teacher at UCLA.

Gould made his film debut in an uncredited role in Two for the Seesaw (1962). His first credited role was a small part in The Coach (also 1962). That same year he appeared as Prosecutor Tom Finney on the TV western The Virginian in the episode titled "The Accomplice." After uncredited appearances in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and The Satan Bug (1965), Gould gradually found more work with credited roles in The Yellow Canary (1964), a Rod Serling film starring Pat Boone, Jack Klugman, and Barbara Eden, Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman.

Gould appeared regularly in television in the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in Dennis the Menace, Dr. Kildare, Hazel, The Twilight Zone, The Donna Reed Show, Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Gunsmoke, I Dream Of Jeannie, The F.B.I., The Big Valley, Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cannon, and Hawaii Five-O where he made multiple appearances as Honore Vashon, one of that series' most memorable villains. Gould originated the role of Marlo Thomas's father in the 1965 pilot for That Girl, but the series role was recast with Lew Parker. Gould appeared in The Long, Hot Summer and He & She, two short-lived television series. He also appeared in a pilot later broadcast as a 1972 episode of Love, American Style titled "Love and the Happy Days" as Howard Cunningham, the frustrated father of a young man named Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard).

When ABC turned that episode into a series called Happy Days, Gould agreed to reprise the role of Howard Cunningham; however, when production of Happy Days was delayed, he went abroad to perform in a play. Midway through the play's run, after learning the series was ready to begin shooting, he decided to honor his commitment to the stage production and passed on Happy Days, which led to the role of Howard Cunningham being recast with Tom Bosley. Gould would later state that a requirement to shave the beard he wore at the time was another factor in his decision to decline the role.

Gould had worked steadily in television and film for nearly fifteen years before his career began to gain momentum with his portrayal of Kid Twist in The Sting (1973), winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He appeared in the Woody Allen film Love and Death (1975). He was "Engulf", the villainous head of a conglomerate, in Silent Movie (1976), directed by Mel Brooks, and made guest appearances on television shows such as Petrocelli, The Love Boat and Soap where he played the hospital roommate of Jody Dallas (Billy Crystal).

Gould as Martin Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1973.

In 1972, Gould was cast as Martin Morgenstern, the father of Mary's best friend Rhoda, in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He reprised the role the following year and was hired as a regular when Rhoda became a spin-off in 1974. Gould appeared in the short-lived 1977 series The Feather and Father Gang, starring as Harry Danton, a smooth-talking ex-con man, with Stefanie Powers as Toni "Feather" Danton, his daughter and a hard-working, successful lawyer. The show was canceled after 13 episodes, and Gould returned to Rhoda for the remainder of its run.

Gould also appeared in the miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors. In the 1980 NBC miniseries The Scarlett O'Hara War, he portrayed MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer which gained him an Emmy nomination. He appeared as Chad Lowe's grandfather in Spencer and played a Jewish widower wooing the Christian Katharine Hepburn in Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry. Other roles included a married man having an affair with another member of his Yiddish-speaking club in an episode of the PBS series The Sunset Years and as the owner of a deli grooming two African-American men to inherit his business in Singer & Sons. Gould received Emmy nominations for his roles in Rhoda, Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, and Moviola.

Gould played Miles Webber, the steadfast suitor of Rose Nylund (Betty White), on the NBC series The Golden Girls (he also played another of Rose's boyfriends, Arnie, in the show's first season). He portrayed the father of a villain called The Prankster on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and made guest appearances on television series such as Felicity, The King of Queens, Touched by an Angel, and Judging Amy. Gould's film roles in the 1990s and 2000s include appearances in Stuart Little, Patch Adams, The Master of Disguise, the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, Nobody's Perfect, and Whisper of the Heart.

His stage credits include Broadway theatre plays such as Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups, Neil Simon's Fools, Richard Baer's Mixed Emotions, and Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase. Gould won an Obie Award in 1969 for his work in The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, written by Václav Havel, and reprised the role for a 1988 PBS version of the play. Gould was an early and longtime (48 years) member of Theatre West, the oldest membership theatre company in Los Angeles. He played Mr. Green in Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr. Green at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Death

Gould died from prostate cancer on September 11, 2010. He had two sons, Joshua and Lowell, and a daughter, Deborah. He and Lea were married for 60 years.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Man from Planet X	Frightened Villager	Uncredited
1962	The Couch	Hollingsworth	Uncredited
	Two for the Seesaw	Bit	Uncredited
1963	The Yellow Canary	Ponelli
1964	Marnie	Mr. Garrett - Manager of Farm	Uncredited
1965	The Satan Bug	Dr. Ostrer	Uncredited
	The Spy with My Face	Doctor
	Inside Daisy Clover	Cop on Pier
1966	Harper	Sheriff
	An American Dream	Ganucci's Attorney
1968	Project X	Col. Holt
1969	The Arrangement	Dr. Leibman
1970	The Lawyer	Eric P. Scott
1971	Mrs. Pollifax-Spy	Nexdhet
1972	Where Does It Hurt?	Dr. Zerny
1973	The Sting	Kid Twist
1974	The Front Page	The Mayor
1975	The Strongest Man in the World	Regent Dietz
	Love and Death	Anton
1976	Silent Movie	Engulf
	The Big Bus	Professor Baxter
	Gus	Charles Gwynn
1978	The One and Only	Hector Moses
1980	Seems Like Old Times	Judge John Channing
1984	The Dream Chasers	Telford Stampley
1986	Playing for Keeps	Rockefeller
1989	Romero	Francisco Galedo
1991	Birch Street Gym	Jack	Short
1995	Killer: A Journal of Murder	Old Henry Lesser
	Lover's Knot	Alan Smithee
1998	My Giant	Milt Kaminski
	Beloved	Barber Shop Man #4	Uncredited
	Patch Adams	Arthur Mendelson
	Brown's Requiem	Solly K
1999	Stuart Little	Grandpa Spencer
2001	Dying on the Edge	Arthur
2002	The Master of Disguise	Grandfather Disguisey
2003	Freaky Friday	Grandpa
	Brother Bear	Old Denahi	Voice
	Nobody's Perfect		Short
2005	Whisper of the Heart	Shiro Nishi	English version, Voice
	English as a Second Language	Wayne

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961–1963	Dennis the Menace	Mr. Sparks / Tramp	2 episodes
1961–1965	Dr. Kildare	Earl McCloskey / Dr. Peter Duey / Frank the Cop	3 episodes
1962	National Velvet		Episode: "The Rumor"
1962	The Donna Reed Show	Cal Winslow	Episode: "Rebel with a Cause"
1962–1963	The Eleventh Hour	Judge / Eric Stanger / Paul Brauner	3 episodes
1962–1965	Hazel	Judge Winston / Mr. Wheeler / TV Announcer / Mr. Prior	4 episodes
1962–1965	The Virginian	Lacey / John Marshall Harrison / John Anderson / Adam Pendleton / Prosecutor Black / Prosecutor Tom Finney	6 episodes
1963	Empire	Judge Will	Episode: "Stopover on the Way to the Moon"
1963	The Twilight Zone	General Larrabee	Episode: "Probe 7, Over and Out"
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	District Attorney	Episode: "How to Get Rid of Your Wife"
1964	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Doctor	Episode: "The Double Affair"
1964	Perry Mason	Lawrence West	Episode: "The Case of the Latent Lover"
1964–1965	The Jack Benny Show	Director / Mr. Hunter, First IRS Man / DMV Clerk - Corrects Exam	5 episodes
1964–1967	The Fugitive	Tom Crailer / Dr. Willis / Eller - Interviewer	3 episodes
1964–1974	Gunsmoke	Lucius Shindrow / Hadley Boake	3 episodes
1965	That Girl	Lew Marie	Episode: "What's in a Name?"
1965	Mister Ed	Psychiatrist	Episode: "Ed the Pilot"
1965–1972	The F.B.I.	George Hale / Vincent Millard / Israel Jacobs / Martin Eldon / Doctor / Arnold Bruzzi / Dave Rice / Hans Hunter	7 episodes
1966	The Green Hornet	Calvin Ryland	Episode: "May the Best Man Lose"
1966	Get Smart	Hans Hunter	Episode: "The Island of the Darned"
1966–1970	Hogan's Heroes	General von Schlomm / General von Scheider / General Von Lintzer	4 episodes
1967	The Invaders	Allen Slater / Dr. Paul Mailer	2 episodes
1967–1968	The Flying Nun	Rabbi Mendez / Father Sweeney	2 episodes
1967–1968	The Wild Wild West	John Taney / Victor Freemantle	2 episodes
1967–1969	The Big Valley	Captain Crawford / Harry Davis / Judge William Daggett / Major Wilson	3 episodes
1967–1980	Insight	God (Old Man) / Beggar / God / Jonathan / Morris Gertz / Eddie	7 episodes
1969	The Debbie Reynolds Show	Whitaker	Episode: "That's Debbie"
1969	Mission: Impossible	Vincente Bravo	Episode: "The Code"
1969	I Dream of Jeannie	General Whetherby / Mr. Winkler	2 episodes
1971	Columbo	Agent Carlson	Episode: "Ransom for a Dead Man"
1971	The Mod Squad	Lester Chennery	Episode: "Real Loser"
1971	A Death of Innocence	Alexander Weisberg	TV movie
1971–1975	Cannon	Colonel Mirza / Robert L. Jardine / Nicholas Troas	3 episodes
1972–1973	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Martin Morgenstern	2 episodes
1972–1974	The Streets of San Francisco	Joseph Francis / Arthur Lavery	2 episodes
1972–1975	Hawaii Five-O	Honore Vashon	4 episodes
1973	The Partridge Family	Walter Yost	Episode: "Beethoven, Brahms and Partridge"
1973	Ironside	Martin Geller	Episode: "The Armageddon Gang"
1973	Needles and Pins	Joe	Episode: "Union Trouble"
1974–1976	Petrocelli	Haskell Fox	3 episodes
1974–1977	Police Story	Emmett Parnell / Sam Grossman / Andrea Basic	3 episodes
1974–1978	Rhoda	Martin Morgenstern	17 episodes
1976–1977	The Feather and Father Gang	TV Series (co-starring Stefanie Powers) as Harry Danton	14 episodes
1977	Soap	Barney Gerber	4 episodes
1977	Family	Paul Schiller	2-part episode
1979	The Rockford Files	Mr. Brockelman	2-part episode
1979	11th Victim	Benny Benito	TV movie
1979	The Man in the Santa Claus Suit	Dickie Dayton	TV movie
1980	Kenny Rogers as The Gambler	Stowbridge	TV movie
1980	The Scarlett O'Hara War	Louis B. Mayer	TV movie
1980	King Crab	Mr. Campana
1984	St. Elsewhere	Melvin Millstein	2 episodes
1985, 1989–1992	The Golden Girls	Miles Webber (season 5–7) / Arnie Peterson (season 1)	13 episodes
1986	Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry	Dr. Marvin Elias	TV movie
1986	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Andrei Zernov	Episode: "One Bear Dances, One Bear Doesn't"
1986	L.A. Law	Harry Finneman	Episode: "Simian Chanted Evening"
1986	Night Court	Walter Wise	Episode: "New Year's Leave"
1989	Empty Nest	Dr. Stanfield Weston	Episode: "Man of the Year"
1989	Midnight Caller	Charlie Drexol	Episode: "Blues for Mr. Charlie"
1989–1992	The Ray Bradbury Theater	Colonel Stonesteel / Old Man	2 episodes
1990	Dallas	Dr. Wexler	2 episodes
1990	Singer & Sons	Nathan Singer	4 episodes
1992–1993	The Golden Palace	Miles, Rose's boyfriend	2 episodes
1994–1995	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Edwin Griffin	2 episodes
1996	The Outer Limits	Gerry	Episode: "Paradise"
1996	For Hope	David 'Dave' Altman	TV movie
1996–2001	Touched by an Angel	Albert Einstein / Sam Moskowitz	2 episodes
1997	The Love Bug	Dr. Gustav Stumpfel	TV movie
1998	Felicity	Dr. William Garibay	Episode: "Hot Objects"
1999	Pacific Blue		Episode: "Hostile Witness"
2000	The King of Queens	Irv Glassman	Episode: "Surprise Artie"
2003	Judging Amy	Arthur	Episode: "Maxine Interrupted"
2008	Cold Case		Episode: "Pin Up Girl"
2010	Nip/Tuck	Walter Krieger	Episode: "Walter and Edith Krieger" (final appearance)

Theatre

• The House of Blue Leaves (1970) - Artie Shaughnessy - Truck and Warehouse Theatre, New York City, NY
• The Skin of Our Teeth (1983) - Mr. Antrobus - Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA
• The Substance of Fire (1996) - Isaac Geldhart - Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA
• Visiting Mr. Green (1999) - Mr. Green - Pasadena Playhouse
• Old Wicked Songs (2002) - Professor Josef Mashkan - Rubicon Theatre Company
• Tuesdays With Morrie (2005) - Morrie Schwartz - Rubicon Theatre Company

External links

• Harold Gould at IMDb
• Harold Gould at the TCM Movie Database
• Harold Gould at the Internet Broadway Database
• Harold Gould at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Harold Gould at Find a Grave