Alan North(1920-2000)
- Actor
After wartime naval service, Alan North began his show business career
as a stage manager in New York. He first worked on Broadway in "Plain
and Fancy", doubling up as understudy for the small part of Isaac
Miller. The play had a successful run between 1955 and 1956 (461
performances) and this led to further acting work in diverse
productions, ranging from musical comedy to straight dramatic parts,
both on and off Broadway. Alan last appeared as a quaint curmudgeonly
character in "Lake Hollywood" at the Signature Theater in 1999.
Early in his career, Alan, an avid baseball fan, hosted a television
program for the Baltimore Orioles as well as doing a regular sports
broadcast at WRC-TV in Washington. However, he did not become a regular
feature on the screen until the early 1970's, when he appeared in two
big budget films, Plaza Suite (1971)
and Serpico (1973). After that, Alan
became a more familiar presence on the small screen, invariably
portraying cops, priests and academics. He is most fondly remembered as
the perpetually vague Chief Ed Hocken in the hilarious, sadly
short-lived, spoof
Police Squad! (1982), starring
Leslie Nielsen. Alan was given some very
funny lines to deliver and he did so in a perfect dead-pan manner. He
was not afforded the chance to repeat his role for the
'Naked Gun' series (the studio insisted on a higher marquee value actor, casting Academy Award-winner George Kennedy
instead).
Alan North died of cancer at the age of 79 in January 2000.
as a stage manager in New York. He first worked on Broadway in "Plain
and Fancy", doubling up as understudy for the small part of Isaac
Miller. The play had a successful run between 1955 and 1956 (461
performances) and this led to further acting work in diverse
productions, ranging from musical comedy to straight dramatic parts,
both on and off Broadway. Alan last appeared as a quaint curmudgeonly
character in "Lake Hollywood" at the Signature Theater in 1999.
Early in his career, Alan, an avid baseball fan, hosted a television
program for the Baltimore Orioles as well as doing a regular sports
broadcast at WRC-TV in Washington. However, he did not become a regular
feature on the screen until the early 1970's, when he appeared in two
big budget films, Plaza Suite (1971)
and Serpico (1973). After that, Alan
became a more familiar presence on the small screen, invariably
portraying cops, priests and academics. He is most fondly remembered as
the perpetually vague Chief Ed Hocken in the hilarious, sadly
short-lived, spoof
Police Squad! (1982), starring
Leslie Nielsen. Alan was given some very
funny lines to deliver and he did so in a perfect dead-pan manner. He
was not afforded the chance to repeat his role for the
'Naked Gun' series (the studio insisted on a higher marquee value actor, casting Academy Award-winner George Kennedy
instead).
Alan North died of cancer at the age of 79 in January 2000.