John C. Becher

John C. Becher (January 15, 1915 – September 20, 1986) was an American stage and television actor born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to parents John and Katherine. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1938, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago in 1941.

Becher launched his professional career on September 20, 1946, when he appeared as Lord Sands in a production of Henry VIII mounted by the American Repertory Theatre at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. He remained with the company through their 1946–1947 season, taking on roles including the Lion in Androcles and the Lion and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. His Broadway career, which spanned from 1946 to 1983, encompassed productions including Skipper Next to God in 1948, Harvey, Brigadoon, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe in 1963, and the short-lived Status Quo Vadis in 1973.

Among his most sustained Broadway associations was the musical Mame, in which he originated the role of Mr. Upson in the 1966 production at the Winter Garden Theatre. He reprised that role seventeen years later in the 1983 Broadway revival at the Gershwin Theatre. Becher also appeared in the Broadway production of Gypsy.

Alongside his stage work, Becher maintained an active television career, with appearances on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp in 1958, The Defenders in 1965, and Taxi in 1979. His film credits spanned nearly three decades and included roles in The Wrong Man (1956), The Odd Couple (1968), Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), Gremlins (1984), and Mass Appeal (1984), among numerous others. His final film role came in Say Yes in 1986.

Becher died of cancer on September 20, 1986, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 71.