A ‘Fargo’ Actor Has Sadly Died: Niece Confirms Death of Bain Boehlke

Bain Boehlke, an actor who appeared in the 1996 film Fargo, has passed away following. a battle with cancer. He was 87 years old.

The late actor’s niece, Alice Chalupsky, confirmed the news, telling the Minnesota Star Tribune that he was in hospice care for the second time after the cancer returned. 

Born in 1939, Boehlke went into acting at a young age. He joined the artists who founded the Children’s Theatre Company in 1965 and served as an associate artistic director within the organization. 

Among his most memorable roles with the Children’s Theatre Company was the wicked stepmother in Cinderella.

“I remember the first time I saw him in Cinderella,” Chalupsky shared. “I knew that he was my uncle under all that makeup, but I could not stop laughing.” 

Along with the Children’s Theatre Company productions, Boehlke also appeared in John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves and David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre.

He also founded and served as artistic director of the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. In the early ’90s, Boehlke produced a documentary about Nazi Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He also worked as a bartender in Fargo.

Decades into his career, Boehlke received the McKnight Foundation’s Distinguished Artist Award in 2009.

Michelle Barber, who acted alongside Boehlke, will remember the late actor for his talent. “His enduring legacy is that he was one of the first to bring high-quality theater to a neighborhood,” she said. “Bain had a special passion for telling stories, and he did it with such excellence.”