‘A Serious Man’ and ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Actor Dead at 98: Family Confirms Alan Mandell’s Passing

Longtime actor Alan Mandell passed away from natural causes at his Westwood, California home last week. He was 98.

 Mandell’s passing was confirmed by family members to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

The Canadian-born actor began his career on the stage in the late 1950’s, mainly in and around the San Francisco area. Among the plays he performed in were Waiting for Godot, No Man’s Land, Endgame, Twelve Angry Men, and The Price. Mandell’s performance in Waiting for Godot was notable because the play was performed inside of San Quentin State Prison during Nov. 1957.

Along with an inmate, Mandell founded a drama workshop at San Quentin which put on several plays.

In a statement to THR, Daniel Segura, Mandell’s assistant, said: “He was a brilliant manager and producer, which made him sought after for the way he could put on a production, run a theater company, run a business.

“As an actor, he just had a lyricism to him that was poetic. Hearing him do (Samuel) Beckett (plays), I was always blown away by his musicality. He could deliver it to an audience that all of a sudden got it.”

Mandell’s acting wasn’t limited to the stage. He appeared in several movies, including Shortbus, Velvet Buzzsaw – which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo – and A Serious Man, which was written by the Coen brothers and released in fall 2009 to critical acclaim. The movie brought in more than $31 million at the box office against a $7 million budget.

Television was also an area in which Mandell succeeded. Throughout his career, Mandell appeared in television shows across four decades. Some of those shows included, The Six Million Dollar Man, Cannon, Sisters, and Grey’s Anatomy.

Alan was married to Elizabeth Heller for 30 years before she passed away in 1997. He is survived by a son, daughter, and three grandchildren.