Gerry Becker

Gerry Becker (April 11, 1951 – April 13, 2019) was an American actor who worked across theatre, film, and television throughout a career spanning several decades. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he spent three years studying for the priesthood with the Jesuits before leaving that path. He subsequently earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri and a master's degree in theatre from Saint Louis University.

Becker built his early professional reputation in the Chicago theatre community, developing associations with both Remains Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Among his regional credits, he took the lead role in Bernard Slade's Romantic Comedy at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, Illinois in 1981. In 1987, he appeared in a National Jewish Theatre production of Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups, and in 1991 he portrayed Thomas Stockman in Northlight Theatre's production of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. The following year, he played Mr. Wagner opposite William Petersen in Raymond J. Barry's Once in Doubt with Remains Theatre Company in Chicago.

His Broadway career ran from 1993 to 2009 and included two productions: The Song of Jacob Zulu and South Pacific. The first of these came in 1993, when he appeared in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Broadway production of The Song of Jacob Zulu. In 1995, he starred in the off-Broadway production Death Defying Acts, a trio of one-act dark comedies by David Mamet, Elaine May, and Woody Allen, which played at the Variety Arts Theatre in New York as well as in Stamford and Philadelphia. His performances in that production drew notice from multiple critics, including Vince Canby of The New York Times, who described his work alongside Paul Guilfoyle in Mamet's piece as acted to dry, caustic perfection, and Howard Kissel of the Daily News, who called his portrayal of a manic depressive uproarious.

Beyond the stage, Becker appeared in numerous film and television productions. His film credits included Donnie Brasco and Man on the Moon. On television, he accumulated an extensive list of appearances across network and cable programming, including multiple episodes of Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Practice, and The West Wing, among many others. He also appeared in several television films, including The Hunley on TNT in 1999 and Path to War on HBO in 2002.

In his personal life, Becker met his wife, Lucy, while performing in a production at the Court Theatre. He had begun drinking in adolescence and, as of 1995, had been sober for ten years. Becker died on April 13, 2019, two days after his sixty-eighth birthday, from complications related to diabetes.