Louis Zorich, ‘Mad About You’ Dad, Dies at 93

Stage veteran Louis Zorich, who played Paul Reiser’s father on NBC’s Mad About You, has died at the age of 93.

Deadline is reporting that Zorich, whose career spans back more than half a century, has passed away. The cause of his death has not yet been revealed.

Among his many roles on and off Broadway, Zorich understudied Walter Matthau’s Oscar Madison in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. He later starred in 45 Seconds From Broadway, Simon’s play about the occupants of a particular café just a 45 second walk from Broadway. In 1984, he portrayed Ben Loman in Death of a Salesman.

Between 1992 and 1999, Zorich appeared as Burt Buchman, a sporting goods store owner, on 70 episodes of NBC’s Mad About You, coining the icnonic catchphrase “It’s me, Burt! Burt Buchman — your father!” From 1991 to 1993, he also starred in the CBS sitcom Brooklyn Bridge, portraying an immigrant grandfather.

In 2001, he appeared in a Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies. He last appeared in a 2003 revival of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Zorich and his wife, Olympia Dukakis, co-founded the Whole Theater company in their hometown of Montclair, NJ. He was also on the faculty of one of the country’s premiere acting programs, HB Studio.

Zorich was the husband of Oscar winner Dukakis. He is survived by his wife, along with their children Christina, Peter and Stefan and four grandchildren, Isabella, Sofia, Luka and Erlinda.