Stephen Elliott

A heralded stage actor with a Drama Desk Award to his credit, Stephen Elliott first broke into television in his early 30s, but did not find success in film until his 50s. He first entered the world of theater in 1940, joining the New York Neighborhood Playhouse where he trained with famed technique instructor Sanford Meisner. Though Elliott left for a stint with the United States Merchant Marines during World War II, he was back and on Broadway by 1945. Two years later, he married stage actress Nancy Chase, but after two children and thirteen years of marriage, the pair divorced in 1960. Before long he met actress Alice Hirson, but the pair would not marry until 1980. Despite a long string of long list of film and TV appearances, Elliott had failed to make much of an impression. It wasn't until 1981 that he earned notice for his film work, when Elliott played the unhinged mobster Burt Johnson in the hit comedy "Arthur," which starred Dudley Moore as a perennially drunk playboy. Due to the film's success and the praise directed at Elliott, he was more prolific in TV over film appearances, earning solid recurring roles on the California-set primetime soap opera "Falcon Crest," the acclaimed medical drama "St. Elsewhere," and the long-running hospital-set drama series "Chicago Hope" before retiring in 1999. Elliott died six years later of congestive heart failure at the age of 86.