Monday, February 9, 2009

Norman Fell


Norman Noah Fell was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.

Fell was born Norman Feld in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family, and studied drama at Temple University after serving as a tail gunner in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.

Though Fell mostly acted on television, he also had small character roles in several motion pictures including the original Ocean's Eleven, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, PT 109, The Graduate (in which he also played a landlord), Bullitt, and Catch-22 as Sergeant Towser. He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, The Killers.

During the filming of Ocean's Eleven, Norman was considered a member of the infamous Rat Pack.

He received his Golden Globe Award in 1979, for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role, for Three's Company. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award, but not for Three's Company, but rather for his dramatic performance in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, in which he played Nick Nolte's character's boxing trainer. His final television appearance was in a cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in 1997.

Fell died of cancer in Los Angeles, California, and was interred there at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.