Veteran actor Richard Roat, who played memorable roles in ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Friends’, dies at 89
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Veteran actor Richard Roat, who played memorable roles on TV shows in a stellar career that spanned nearly five decades, has died at the age of 89.
The reputed character actor passed away on August 5 in Orange County, California. The acclaimed performer had over 135 roles in television, film, and Broadways, appearing in classics such as 'The Golden Girls', 'Dallas', 'Hill Street Blues', 'Cheers', 'Murphy Brown', 'Happy Days', and "just about every TV show going back to Car 54, Where Are You?" according to his obituary.
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"His greatest love was his family, with whom he shared his incredible sense of humor, intelligence, and unmatched zest for life," Roat's family wrote in his obituary in the LA Times, adding how he "was fortunate to marry the love of his life, his true soulmate, Kathy." The actor, born on July 3, 1933, dabbled in a number of TV shows in the early 1960s before landing his first major role as Dr Jerry Chandler on the NBC soap opera 'The Doctors' in 1962. He would go on to star in over 170 episodes during the show's first year. The show continued to run for another two decades, but Roat moved on to other ventures, including a guest starring role on 'The Fugitive'.
Richard Roat, 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends' actor, dead at 89 https://t.co/ol0oFJWm7Q pic.twitter.com/qCSZg7dBBF
— New York Post (@nypost) August 31, 2022
Roat relentlessly performed in the subsequent years and landed roles in 90s sitcoms including '3rd Rock From the Sun,' 'Ellen,' 'Mad About You,' and '7th Heaven.' One of his most notable performances was on 'Seinfeld' as a guest star on season 8 in 1998. Roat's character in the show was one of the doctors who found Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, Elaine Benes, to be a “difficult patient.” The performer also secured another big guest role on the famed TV series 'Friends', playing David Schwimmer’s character Ross Geller’s fellow professor who busted Ross for dating a student.
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Before working on 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends', Roat was featured in two episodes of 'The Golden Girls'. He also starred as Farnsworth in multiple 'Hill Street Blues' episodes from 1982 until 1985 and as Creighton on 'Dynasty' in 1986. He also appeared in a 1985 episode of 'Cheers'. Roat then secured a recurring role on 'Days of Our Lives', playing Professor Henry Moore in 12 episodes. His final acting credit on TV was in 2009 when he featured on an episode of '24' which ran from 2001 to 2010. As mentioned, Roat's multi-dimensional career also saw him take on short stints on Broadways as well as onstage at The Public Theatre in Central Park. The actor is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Kathy Roat, the New York Post reported.