Steven Gilborn

Steven Neil Gilborn (July 15, 1936 – January 2, 2009) was an American actor and educator born in New Rochelle, New York. Before pursuing a career in performance, Gilborn built a substantial academic foundation, earning a bachelor's degree in English from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in dramatic literature from Stanford University in 1969. His doctoral dissertation examined the plays of nineteenth-century French dramatist Émile Augier through a psychoanalytic lens.

Gilborn's scholarly career preceded his work as a professional actor. He served as a professor of humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also acted as faculty adviser to the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. His teaching career extended to Stanford University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He was married to American landscape photographer Karen Halverson.

His Broadway career included an appearance in 1977 in Tartuffe. On television, Gilborn accumulated an extensive list of guest appearances across several decades, including roles on Columbo, which he appeared in across four episodes, as well as Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, The Golden Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Touched by an Angel, JAG, ER, The West Wing, Matlock, L.A. Law, The Practice, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and Still Standing. He held a recurring role on the sitcom Ellen, portraying Harold Morgan, Ellen's father, and appeared in three episodes of The Wonder Years as Mr. Collins, Kevin Arnold's algebra teacher. His film work included the role of Mr. Phillips in The Brady Bunch Movie and the hotel owner in Joyride.

Gilborn died on January 2, 2009, at the age of 72, following a battle with cancer, at his home in North Chatham, New York.