Warren Berlinger

Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American actor born in Brooklyn, New York, of Jewish heritage. He was the son of Frieda (née Shapkin) and Elias Berlinger, a building contractor whose family operated Berlinger's Glass Store on Avenue D. Over a career spanning six decades, Berlinger accumulated credits across Broadway, film, television, and commercial work.

Berlinger's stage career began in 1946 when, at nine years old, he appeared in the original Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun alongside Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. He went on to appear in nine Broadway productions in total, taking on the role of young Bibi in The Happy Time in 1951 and Johnny in Take a Giant Step in 1953. In 1954 he played the son of Macdonald Carey and Kitty Carlisle in Anniversary Waltz. He earned a Theatre World Award in 1958 for his performance in the Broadway production of Blue Denim, a role he subsequently reprised in the Hollywood film adaptation. His Broadway work continued with A Roomful of Roses, Bernardine, and California Suite, and in 1961 he played Buddy Baker in Neil Simon's first Broadway comedy, Come Blow Your Horn. Although outside the verified Broadway run dates, Berlinger also took the starring role of J. Pierpont Finch in the 1963 London production of Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Shaftesbury Theatre, a run that extended to 520 performances.

Berlinger's television career began during his teenage years in live New York City television, including appearances on the original Howdy Doody show and various drama anthologies. He guest-starred across dozens of series over six decades, frequently cast as comic friends, relatives, neighbors, or everyday characters. Among his recurring television roles, he appeared on The Joey Bishop Show from 1961 to 1962, Bracken's World from 1969 to 1970, The Funny Side in 1971, A Touch of Grace in 1973, Operation Petticoat from 1978 to 1979, Happy Days from 1975 to 1981, Too Close for Comfort from 1982 to 1986, and Shades of LA from 1990 to 1991. In 1965 he starred in Kilroy, a segment of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Notable guest appearances included Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, Friends, Love American Style, and That Girl, where he portrayed Marlo Thomas's cousin Howard in Season 1 and Dr. Goldfisher in Season 4. On Happy Days he appeared as Army recruiter Sergeant Betchler. In 1975 he guest-starred on Emergency! as heart transplant patient Frank Fenady alongside Jeanne Cooper. He also starred in a sitcom entitled Warren. His final acting credit was a 2016 episode of Grace and Frankie.

His film career began in 1956 with Teenage Rebel and included Because They're Young (1960), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960), in which he played Radioman 2nd Class A.J. Sparks alongside Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson, Billie (1965), Spinout (1966) with Elvis Presley, Thunder Alley (1967), The Long Goodbye (1973), The Girl Most Likely To... (1973), Lepke (1975), I Will I Will... for Now (1976), The Shaggy D.A. (1976), The Magician of Lublin (1979), The Cannonball Run (1981), The World According to Garp (1982), Ten Little Indians (1989), Hero (1992), and That Thing You Do! (1996). In 2006, Berlinger marked his 60th anniversary in show business. He held the titles of both honorary mayor and honorary sheriff of Chatsworth, California.

In 1960, Berlinger married actress Betty Lou Keim, with whom he had four children. Keim died in 2010. Berlinger died of cancer on December 2, 2020, at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, California, at the age of 83.