Norman Fell

R.I.P.

The following is pieced together from various news sources.

LOS ANGELES — Norman Fell, the veteran comic and character actor who played the irritable landlord Stanley Roper on the 1970s television sitcom Three's Company and in the spin-off series The Ropers, died of cancer on Monday, December 14, 1998. He was 74.

Fell died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's retirement home in Woodland Hills, a Los Angeles suburb, said Stan Schneider, his longtime business manager. Family members were at his side.

Fell was diagnosed several weeks ago with cancer. "I can't believe it, it's so fast," Schneider said. "Until he got ill maybe three weeks ago, he came into this office once a week."

Fell starred in some 30 films, including "The Graduate," "Pork Chop Hill," "Catch-22" and "Bullitt," and appeared in four television series including Burt Reynolds' 1970-75 detective drama Dan August and more than 20 made-for-TV movies. But he was best known as Stanley Roper on "Three's Company" -- a role that won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. But it was the part of Stanley Roper he was most identified with, like it or not, Schneider said.

''I think he felt toward the end ... it typecast him. But it was the one everyone knew him as. Everyone called him Mr. Roper, on the street, wherever he went,'' he said.

Fell and Audra Lindley played Stanley and Helen Roper on ABC's Three's Company, which debuted in 1977 and starred John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers as their tenants.

The Ropers spent a fair amount of time poking into the unusual living arrangements of their young neighbors and the rest sparring among themselves. Fell and Lindley left the sitcom in 1979, after 52 episodes, to star in The Ropers, which aired for one season until 1980. Lindley, 79, died in 1997 of complications from leukemia. Three's Company continued until 1984 with Don Knotts as the new landlord and other cast changes.

Norman Fell was born with the last name Feld on March 24, 1925 in Philadelphia. He has been married and divorced three times.

Fell became interested in show business while still in high school, then studied acting at Stella Adler's school in New York. He served as a tail gunner in the Pacific during World War II and earned his bachelor's degree in Arts & Sciences. While at Temple, he lived at 7723 Rugby Street in Philadelphia. He was Chief Announcer for WRTI (AM) in his Junior year. Other campus activities included the Sword Society, Theta Alpha Phi, The Templayers and the Veterans Club.

He studied acting after his return from the war and struggled to win small parts in New York stage and TV productions, including 1954's Twelve Angry Men. His first regular series role was in the short-lived 1956 comedy Joe & Mabel.

In 1958, Fell moved to Los Angeles. The next year he made his movie debut in "Pork Chop Hill." He appeared with Frank Sinatra in "Ocean's Eleven" and had a brief, comic role in "The Graduate." Although his movie credits were extensive, he was best known for his work in television. In 1961 and 1962, he played the part of veteran police detective Meyer in the drama "87th Precinct," based on the Ed McBain mystery novels. The program lasted 29 episodes. In 1970, Fell played another police officer in "Dan August" starring Burt Reynolds. During the mid-1970s, he earned an Emmy nomination as Nick Nolte's fight trainer in the mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man."

The deadpan, quick-witted Fell had repeated appearances as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

He is survived by his two daughters, Tracy Klorman and Mara Polon, and two grandchildren.

This is the WRTI Old Gang Web Site