Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 - January 5, 1982) was an American stage, film and TV actor, and founder of the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop in Los Angeles, who appeared in two episodes of Season 4 as Ovits, a classmate and frenemy of Mearth's in school on Ork.
Biography[]
Harvey was born in Brooklyn, New York City, US, April 15, 1923, the son of a Brooklyn button manufacturer, Lembeck yearned for a career as a radio sports announcer. Having attended New Utrecht High School. Lembeck started his career straight after, becoming half of an exhibition dance team known as The Dancing Carrolls. The team performed at the New York World's Fair (April, 1939-October, 1940). Lembeck started dating his teammate, Caroline Dubs.
They eventually married, remaining married until Lembeck's death in 1982. Having two children together the actor Michael Lembeck and actress Helaine Lembeck.
During World War II, Lembeck served in the United States Army. Following his discharge from the United States Army at the end of World War II in 1945. He was discharged at the end of the War, and soon after started college studies at New York University. He graduated in 1947, with a degree at radio arts. He intended to work as sports radio announcer, but his teacher Robert Emerson advised Lembeck to try his hand at an acting career. Emerson had seen Lembeck perform at the University's theatrical productions and had seen potential in him.
Harvey died of a sudden heart attack on January 5th, 1982, while leaving the filming of the Mork & Mindy episode Pajama Game II (see Mork & Mindy section below) (aged 58) [1] [2]
Career[]
Two weeks after graduation from NYU, Lembeck won the role of Sam Insigna in Mister Roberts, by Joshua Logan, which he played on Broadway from 1948 to 1951. Based on his Broadway success, Lembeck was offered his first film roles by 20th Century Fox in California.
In 1951, Lembeck played small parts in three new films from the studio: the military-themed comedy "You're in the Navy Now", the film noir "Fourteen Hours", and the scuba-diving- themed war film "The Frogmen". Back on Broadway, Lembeck had more success with the hit play "Stalag 17" by co-writers Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, depicting the tensions surrounding a suspected German mole in a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, with Lembeck and Robert Strauss providing levity as Shapiro & 'Animal'. In 1953, legendary director, Billy Wilder made a filmed adaptation at Paramount, with William Holden, and both Lembeck and Strauss were called upon to reprise their roles, Lembeck winning the Theater Owners of America's Laurel Award for outstanding comedy performance.
Also in 1953 he landed his first TV in a role recurring as Chips Collins in The Danny Thomas Show, a number of other shows and TV Movies followed, along with three more turns on the board in Wedding Breakfast (11/20/54-2/26/55, 113 performances, at the 48th Street Theatre) with Lee Grant, and Tony Franciosa. Phoenix '55 (5/23/55-7/17/55, 97 performances, at the Phoenix Theatre) with Nancy Walker, before in 1955, Lembeck had a main-cast role in the classic sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959) opposite Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko as Corporal Rocco Barbella, one of Bilko's sidekicks and partners-in-crime. The sitcom lasted four years, Silvers & Lembeck becoming good friends during it's run, and the final episode featured both Bilko and Barbella being arrested for an embezzling scheme and incarcerated.
He returned to Broadway yet again with appearances in the Rogers & Hammerstein musicals, South Pacific (4/24/57-12/5/57, 23 performances, at the New York City Center) and Oklahoma! (3/19/58-3/30/58, 16 performances, at New York City Center)
In the early 1960s, continued guesting and playing recurring parts in various sitcoms, eventually cast in co-starring role in the short-lived military comedy series "Ensign O'Toole" (1962-1963).as well as supporting roles in films. . In 1963 he was cast as the outlaw biker Eric Von Zipper. "Beach Party", the film's sympathetic villain, and an affectionate parody of Marlon Brando's character Johnny Strabler from "The Wild One" (1953). He reprised the role in 5 sequels, almost all across from oft name checked 'Mork' favorites Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, "Beach Party". They were "Bikini Beach" (1964), "Pajama Party" (1964), "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965), "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965) and "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" (1966).
Other film appearances included the Debbie Reynolds hit, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), while he also appeared in prominent TV series My Favorite Martian (1965); The Man From Uncle (1965) The Farmer's Daughter (1965), as Eagle Eye in Batman (1966), The Monkees (1966), But for most of the late 1960s, Lembeck turned back to theatre work In 1964, Lembeck succeeded Jack Kosslyn at the leadership of an actors' workshop. He initially focused on working with comedy scripts, but in 1965 he founded the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop training actors in improvisational comedy. In his view, improvisation was one of the best ways to develop the comedy skills of an actor, the school remaining one of the most prestigious training workshops to this day.
Lembeck also had another hit theatrical role in 1965, as Don Quixote's sidekick Sancho Panza in the early runs of the play "Man of La Mancha" (1965) by Dale Wasserman. For most of the late 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Lembeck appeared in guest star roles in television, with infrequent appearances in film. His last film appearance was a bit part in the comedy "The Gong Show Movie" (1980), a notorious flop of its era. He continued to both perform and teach acting.[1][2]
Mork & Mindy[]
Lembeck's involvement with the lore of Mork & Mindy goes beyond his performances.
Harvey Lembeck's Comedy Workshop was one of the best most reputable improv/comedy workshops in LA, one of it's founding members being Robert Donner who would go on to play Exidor on the show, and with alumni like Penny Marshall and John Ritter among its numbers. After his move down from San Francisco, Robin Williams became a member, recalling. “I looked around the class and I said I’m home, they can’t hurt me now, forget therapy. This is a home, someplace real special. I felt safe, it gave me freedom.”[3]
Harvey Lembeck quickly became aware of his talent. So much so that when Ronny Hallin, Garry Marshall's sister and casting co-ordinator was sent on on a hunt for a possible 'alien' for the Happy Days episode, she called Lembeck as one of her casting contacts and asked "Who's the hottest comic in your workshop?" Lembeck quickly recommended Robin Williams.[4] Hallin reputedly then watched Williams perform (on the street) incorporating an alien into his act, 'filling up' his hat pretty quickly, after which she arranged for him to come in to audition for Garry Marshall, Williams arriving in a pair of glasses made of a pair of soup spoons adorned with a feather. The rest being history.
During Season 4 after the arrival of Mork & Mindy's son, Mearth, older comic actors were required to play Mearth's Orkan classmates, and Maureen Arthur as Zelka who flirts wildly with Jonathan Winter's Mearth, and Harvey Lembeck as Ovits, a frenemy who both hangs out with and picks on the 'Earth Head'. Both appeared in consecutive episodes:
However, during the filming of Pajama Game II, in January 1982, Lembeck suddenly felt ill. Having finished filming he collapsed as he was leaving the set suffering a heart attack and died in the studio set of the show. He was only 58-years-old. As a previous mentor and teacher his death struck Robin Williams hard, carrying it with him over the next few months through the show. [5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 IMDB - Harvey Lembeck Biography.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wikipedia - Harvey Lembeck.
- ↑ Robin Williams - Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop.
- ↑ Don Goodman- "Way Out" TV Guide, October 28 (1978).
- ↑ The Story of Robin Williams’s Last Night With John Belushi. - Dave Itzkoff (2018)