Booth Colman

Booth Colman (March 8, 1923 – December 15, 2014) was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television over several decades. Born to Sol and Sona Cohn in Portland, Oregon, Colman developed an early interest in performance through local productions and radio work as a child.

Colman studied Oriental languages at the University of Washington and the University of Michigan. On May 12, 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army, returning to the University of Michigan from 1943 to 1944 for language training. He was discharged in 1944 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after which he remained in New York City and began his Broadway career.

His first Broadway appearance was in Irwin Shaw's war drama The Assassin, which led to an invitation to join Maurice Evans' acting company. Colman's Broadway work between 1945 and 1950 included Hamlet (1945), Ways and Means, Tonight at 8:30 (1948), and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (1950).

Colman made his film debut in 1952 with an uncredited role in Howard Hawks' The Big Sky. Subsequent film appearances included Them! (1954), The Silver Chalice (1954), Moonfleet (1955), My Gun Is Quick (1957), Wild on the Beach (1965), Maryjane (1968), The Lawyer (1970), Scandalous John (1971), Time Travelers (1976), Norma Rae (1979), and Intolerable Cruelty (2003). In his later career, Colman frequently portrayed authority figures such as doctors and lawyers.

His television work included appearances on My Three Sons (1962), Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, McCloud, Frasier, and Perry Mason, on which he appeared in two episodes in 1964, playing a doctor and a prosecuting attorney respectively. In 1983, he portrayed Professor Hector Jerrold on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital.

In 1974, Colman took on the role of Dr. Zaius in the television series Planet of the Apes, appearing in six episodes. The role had been made famous on film by his former teacher Maurice Evans, and Colman wore the original costume Evans had used in Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Colman also performed the role of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol more than 600 times at the Meadow Brook Theatre in the Detroit area.

Colman died in his sleep in Los Angeles on December 15, 2014, at the age of 91.