Russell Nype

Russell Harold Nype (April 26, 1920 – May 27, 2018) was an American actor and singer born in Zion, Illinois, whose Broadway career spanned from 1949 to 1987. He attended Lake Forest College, where he earned a bachelor's degree with a major in speech and English. Before entering the theater professionally, he served in the United States Army during World War II, and in the early stages of his New York career he supported himself by teaching ballroom dance and singing in nightclubs.

Nype made his Broadway debut in 1949 in Marc Blitzstein's opera Regina. The following year he appeared opposite Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam, a performance that brought him immediate and widespread recognition. Prior to opening night he was so little known that Celebrity Service, which maintained files on performers, had no record of him; the day after the show opened, the organization received sixty phone calls from agents, writers, and producers requesting background information and his contact details. He received featured billing in the production shortly thereafter. His work in Call Me Madam earned him both the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the Theatre World Award in 1951.

Nype went on to appear in Goldilocks opposite Elaine Stritch, a short-lived musical for which he received his second Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1959. He was later reunited with Merman in 1970 when she joined the original production of Hello, Dolly! in the title role and Nype was cast as Cornelius Hackl. His Broadway credits also included Taking My Turn, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Girl in the Freudian Slip, Happy Birthday Mr. Abbott!, Light Up the Sky, and revivals of Carousel, Brigadoon, and Morning's at Seven. In 1960 he appeared at the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania in a revival of the 1935 play Petticoat Fever, which featured newly added songs.

Hollywood took notice of Nype early in his career, and MGM cast him in a production then titled Young Man in a Hurry. After eight days of filming, the studio released him from the project; Nype acknowledged from the outset that he was too young for the role, which had originally been written for James Stewart and called for a character who had been married ten years and had three children. The film was eventually released in 1952 as Young Man with Ideas, starring Glenn Ford. Nype's completed feature film work includes Love Story (1970), Can't Stop the Music (1980), and The Stuff (1985). His television appearances encompassed Studio One, Fantasy Island, One Day at a Time, The Cosby Show, Murder She Wrote, and Who's the Boss?, as well as television productions of One Touch of Venus, Kiss Me Kate, and Morning's at Seven.

On March 7, 1953, Nype married Diantha Fitch Lawrence; the couple had one son together. Diantha Lawrence Nype died in 2015. Russell Nype died on May 27, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 98, survived by his son, two grandchildren, and two stepchildren.