Beloved Asolo Rep and ‘Moonstruck’ actor dies in Sarasota at 94

In a career that lasted more than 60 years and included decades on stage in Sarasota at Asolo Repertory Theatre and memorable film roles in “Moonstruck” and two Woody Allen films, David S. Howard built a connection with audiences and fellow actors who adored him.

“David and I worked together for over 30 years and did a lot of plays together and had a lot of laughs together,” said Howard Millman, the former producing artistic director of Asolo Rep. “He was one of the most brilliant actors I’ve ever known. He was so insightful in every role he played. He was an effortless actor and he was always ready.”

Howard, who had retired from acting due to the impact of Parkinson’s Disease, died on Tuesday at age 94.

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From 1976 to 1982, he appeared in more than 40 plays at Asolo Rep and he returned in the mid 1990s when Millman, who had previously served as managing director, returned as artistic director. In more recent years, he appeared in Frank Galati’s production of “12 Angry Men,” “Visiting Mr. Green,” Martin Vanderhof in “You Can’t Take it With You,” Grampa Joad in “The Grapes of Wrath,” and Yogi Berra in the one-man play “Nobody Don’t Like Yogi.” He played Scrooge in the theater’s one-time annual production of “A Christmas Carol” and a judge in Joanna Glass’s “Trying.”

Michael Donald Edwards, the current producing artistic director, chose “Yogi” to give him a chance to work with Howard.

“What I experienced with him was the most generous, wonderful, inspiring partner. I was a newbie compared to him and so grateful for that whole experience with him to work on a play about an American iconic figure like Yogi Bera with an American theater icon like David Howard,” said Edwards, who later directed Howard in “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Edwards said the actor had a “particular blend of intelligence, sensitivity, generosity toward other performers and a wonderful easy connection with the audience, no matter what he was doing. It was magical to watch him act.”

David Breitbarth, a longtime Asolo Rep colleague who worked closely with Howard in the two-character play “Tuesdays with Morrie,” described him as “a friend. A gentle soul. A monumental talent. He was what I want to be when I grow up.” Howard played professor Morrie Schwartz in the stage version of Mitch Albom’s popular book about the life lessons he learned during weekly visits to the dying professor.

Carolyn Michel, who played both Howard’s daughter and wife during her career, said he “always came prepared, word perfect and always came with a point of view with what he wanted to do, but it was easy to direct him,” she said. “He was always open to discussing, shifting. That’s the perfect professional actor.”

She played his daughter in “I’m Not Rappaport" at Asolo Rep (after he had understudied Jack Klugman in the original Broadway production), and more recently played his wife, Grandma Joad in “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Millman said whenever he’d pass on some insight during a rehearsal that Howard liked “He would just stand there and giggle and I knew there was something he hadn’t thought of and loved. That was his way of expressing joy.”

On film, he played half of a bickering Jewish couple who own a boedga in “Moonstruck”; Anthony Hopkins’ friend in “Meet Joe Black”; and portrayed doctors in Woody Allen’s “Deconstructing Harry” and in the film “The Substance of Fire.” He also appeared in Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and in three episodes of “Law & Order” as different characters.

But it was on stage where he was most at home.

Howard was born Sept. 10, 1928 in Mount KIsco, N.Y. He earned an MFA from Brandeis University where he later worked as a guest artist and acting teacher from 1967 to 1975. Millman hired him occasionally to perform at the Geva Theatre in Rochester, where he was producing artistic director before returning to Asolo Rep, and then Howard rejoined the Sarasota acting troupe.

Kraig Swartz, who starred in three productions of “Visiting Mr. Green” with Howard starting at Asolo Rep said “the experience was never once anything short of a pleasure. Just to be with him in the dresisng room was delightful. He was so funny. And he had the most infectious giggle I've ever heard.”

Before the 2014 opening of “You Can’t Take it With You,” Howard told the Herald-Tribune that four of the actresses in the show had played his daughter at one time or another.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, it’s bound to happen,” he said in an interview. “I have three daughters of my own and they couldn’t be more different but I love them all, and the same with the actresses here.”

Howard lived in Bradenton with his wife, Anne. They met in Sarasota when he was a guest actor for the Siesta Key Actors Theatre and she was involved with the company.

‘I had heard of David Howard but hadn’t seen him and I expected some 6-foot-2 hunk of something. And in walks this short guy with a jean jacket over his shoulder and we connected from that day on,” Anne said. Both were going through divorces at the time.

She recalled that he started out preparing to become a lawyer "to keep his family happy and he was all geared up to take over a law firm but he realized he didn’t want to do it.” Howard did some summer stock-style shows and went back to school to study acting.

Anne Howard said they "shared four children who are to this day best friends.” He is survived by his daughters Carol Howard and Jessica Howard and Anne’s son, Bruce Franklin and daughter, Lisa Higgs, and six grandchildren. A small studio theater adjacent to the Neel Performing Arts Center on the State College of Florida Bradenton campus is named for the couple.

In 2014, he told the Herald-Tribune that the actors at Asolo Rep had become part of a family.

“You’re not only playing family relationships on stage, but you’re a family of actors. They tease me and make just as much fun of me as anyone else. Fun is an important part of the work process,” he said.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: David S. Howard, Asolo Rep and ‘Moonstruck’ actor, dies in Sarasota