Richard Folmer

Richard Sloan Folmer (February 13, 1942 – January 11, 2022) was an American actor born in Cortland, New York, who built a career spanning Broadway, regional theater, television, and film. He was based in Shreveport, Louisiana for much of his professional life and died on January 11, 2022, at the age of 79.

Folmer's Broadway career ran from 1966 to 1970 and included appearances in two landmark musicals of the era, Zorba and Fiddler on the Roof. His theatrical training encompassed work at the Hilberry Classic Theatre as well as personal coaching from acting coaches Cliff Osmond and Bob Everson. Beyond Broadway, his stage work included productions of Death of a Salesman, Shadowlands, My Fair Lady, Sunshine Boys, Harvey, Inherit the Wind, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Nerd, and Gene.

In Shreveport, Folmer co-founded a theater company called The Company and later served as Artistic Director of the East Bank Theatre and Gallery at the Bossier Arts Council.

His screen career included both film and television work beginning in the early 1990s. Among his film credits were JFK (1991), Fatal Justice (1993), The St. Tammany Miracle (1994), OcchioPinocchio (1994), Last Fair Deal (1995), The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995), The Man Next Door (1997), Just Sue Me (2000), Seventy-8 (2004), Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (2005), Factory Girl (2006), Mad Money (2008), Straw Dogs (2011), and Searching for Sonny (2011). His television credits included Doublecrossed (1991), Murder in the Heartland (1993), Dangerous Curves (1993), Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (1993), Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III (1994), Kingfish (1995), and Walker, Texas Ranger, on which he appeared from 1995 to 1997.