Robert Gerringer

Robert Gerringer, born Robert Geiringer on May 12, 1926, in New York City, was an American character actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television across several decades. His father, Arthur Joseph Geiringer, was a surgeon, and his mother, Mary Agnes, née Moran, worked as a teacher. Gerringer maintained a Broadway presence from 1956 to 1980, appearing in productions that included Hide and Seek, Saint Joan, Comedians, Hedda Gabler, and A Doll's House.

Television audiences came to know Gerringer through a range of soap opera roles. He is perhaps most recognized for portraying Dr. Dave Woodard in 29 episodes of Dark Shadows, a part he held from May 1967 to September 1967. In early October of that year, Gerringer declined to cross a NABET picket line during a technicians' strike, honoring the solidarity position of his own union, AFTRA. Actor Peter Turgeon stepped in for seven episodes before the character of Dr. Woodard was written out of the series. Beyond Dark Shadows, Gerringer appeared on The Guiding Light, played Detective Cadman on The Doctors in 1970, and took on the role of Houston attorney Striker Bellman on Texas. He also appeared on The Edge of Night until that program concluded in 1984.

His film work included a role in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist and an appearance in The Way We Were. Gerringer died on November 8, 1989, in Damariscotta, Maine, following a stroke, at the age of 63.