Norman Lloyd, star of 'Saboteur' and 'St. Elsewhere', dies at 106

Norman Lloyd, popular for his role as Dr Daniel Auschlander on TV's St. Elsewhere, has passed away. Norman Lloyd's age was 106 years old. The actor died Tuesday at his home in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, according to his uncle, Michael Lloyd. From the earliest recorded American television drama, 1939's On the Streets of New York, to 21st-century ventures like Modern Family and The Practice, his credits are extensive.

Norman Lloyd's death marked as a great loss to the world of acting

In 2012, when Lloyd greeted the Cannes Film Festival audience with stories about rare friends and colleagues such as Charlie Chaplin and Jean Renoir, critic Kenneth Turan reported in the Los Angeles Times, “If modern film history has a voice, it is Norman Lloyd's.” As per AP, Lloyd, a gangly 5-foot-5 actor with boundless enthusiasm off-screen, carried on playing tennis into his 90s. He starred in Amy Schumer's comedy Trainwreck in 2015. Lloyd's most famous film role was as the villain who falls off the Statue of Liberty in Alfred Hitchcock's 1942 film Saboteur. Hitchcock later cast Lloyd in the iconic thriller Spellbound in 1945. His other film credits include Jean Renoir's The Southerner, Charlie Chaplin's Limelight, Robin Williams' Dead Poets Society, Cameron Diaz's In Her Shoes, and Daniel Day-Lewis' Gangs of New York.

Lloyd appeared on Broadway in 1950 as the Fool opposite Louis Calhern's King Lear, co-starred in the comedy Madam, Will You Walk with Jessica Tandy, and directed Jerry Stiller in The Taming of the Shrew in 1957. He also appeared in Welles' 1937 modern-dress fascist-era production of Julius Caesar, which is considered one of the most important stage works in American theatre history. Norman performed Cinna the Poet, a minor but important role opposite Welles' Brutus. Welles was featured on the cover of Stage magazine in June, calling the production "one of the most exciting dramatic events of our time", the report by AP stated.

Lloyd, who was born on November 8, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey, began acting as a child in the 1920s. He was a fixture on stage with Welles' Mercury Theater, a pioneering 1930s troupe that included Joseph Cotton and Agnes Moorehead and was the inspiration for Welles' iconic film debut, Citizen Kane. Crime, directed by Elia Kazan and starring his future wife, Peggy Craven, was one of his other plays. Peggy Lloyd died in 2011 at the age of 98, after 75 years of marriage. On the NBC drama series St. Elsewhere, he played the memorable calm core of St. Eligius hospital from 1982 to 1988.

IMAGE: AP