Norman Fell
Norman Fell (born Norman Noah Feld; March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) 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", and his film roles in "Ocean's 11" (1960), "The Graduate" (1967), and "Bullitt" (1968). Early in his career, he was billed as Norman Feld. Early life. Fell was born on March 24, 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Edna Feld. His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. Samuel  was a restaurateur and the family lived at 416 South 4th Street. He attended Central High School of Philadelphia. He studied drama at Temple University after serving as a tail gunner on a B-25 Mitchell in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He later honed his craft at The Actors Studio and the Black Hills Players. Career. Aside from Fell's best-known television work, he also played minor character roles in several films, including the original "Ocean's 11", "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "PT 109", "The Graduate", "Bullitt" and "Catch-22" (as  Sergeant Towser). He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, "The Killers". In 1992, he starred as a hotel owner in a comedy movie titled "Hexed". On TV, Fell portrayed Mike in "Joe and Mabel" (1955–1956), Howie Fletcher in "The Tom Ewell Show" (1960–1961), Meyer Meyer in "87th Precinct" (1961–1962), Charles Wilentz in "Dan August" (1970–1971), Nathan Davidson in "Needles and Pins" (1973), Bernie Solkin in "Executive Suite" (1976–1977), Richie's father in "Richie Brockelman, Private Eye" (1978), and Ben Cooper in "Teachers Only" (1982–1983). From 1977 to 1979, Fell portrayed the main characters' landlord Stanley Roper on  the hit sitcom "Three's Company" (a role with some similarities to Mr. McCleery in "The Graduate"). He continued the role as the co-lead with Audra Lindley playing his wife, Helen, on "The Ropers", a spin-off which lasted two seasons, airing from 1979 to 1980. Fell won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role in 1979 for "Three's Company". He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his dramatic performance as the boxing trainer of Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte) in the miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man". His final television appearance was a  cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom "Ellen" in 1997. Personal life. On May 21, 1950, Fell married Dolores Pikoos in Philadelphia. They divorced in 1954 and Fell married and divorced two subsequent times. He had two daughters, Tracy and Mara, with his second wife and adopted a son with his third wife, Karen Weingard. Death. On November 26 (Thanksgiving Day) of 1998, Fell had become too weak to get out of bed at his Marina del Rey home. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. He died at the  Motion Picture and Television's retirement home in Woodland Hills, California, on December 14, 1998, at the age of 74. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.