Joe Silver

Joe Silver (September 28, 1922 – February 27, 1989) was an American actor whose career spanned stage, television, film, and radio. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he attended Green Bay East High School before going on to study at the University of Wisconsin.

Silver's Broadway career began in 1942 with a revival of Tobacco Road and continued for more than four decades, with his final stage appearance coming in the musical Legs Diamond in 1988. Among his most notable stage credits were the original 1959 production of Gypsy and the play The Heroine, as well as the comedy Nature's Way. His performance in Lenny (1971), in which he portrayed nine distinct roles, earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Television became a significant part of Silver's professional life beginning in 1947, when he made his small-screen debut as a panelist on What's It Worth — the first of what would eventually total more than 1,000 television appearances. In 1949, he joined the cast of the CBS educational children's program Mr. I. Magination, and in 1950 he appeared on the short-lived variety program Joey Faye's Frolics. He was a featured performer on The Red Buttons Show during the 1950s and served as the second Captain Jet, hosting the children's series Space Funnies in the late 1950s. In the 1975–1976 season, he played the husband of Lee Grant's character on the series Fay.

Silver's film work included Diary of a Bachelor (1964), Move (1970), Rhinoceros (1974), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), You Light Up My Life (1977), Crash (1978), Boardwalk (1979), Deathtrap (1982), Almost You (1985), and Switching Channels (1988). He also contributed voice performances to several projects, providing the voice of the ox in the 1970 Christmas special The Night the Animals Talked, the speaking and singing voices of the Greedy in Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), and the voice of The Creep in the horror anthology film Creepshow 2 (1987).

Silver died in Manhattan on February 27, 1989, at the age of 66, following a heart attack while he was being treated for liver cancer. He was survived by his wife, actress Chevi Colton, their son Christopher, their daughter Jennifer, and three grandchildren.