Lewis Dauber, ‘Jingle All the Way’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’ Actor, Dead at 70

Lewis Dauber, a character actor who specialized in playing priests, died Thursday after a battle with liver cancer. His credits include the movies Jingle All The Way and a 2017 episode of Fox’s Lethal Weapon series. He was 70 years old.

Dauber died at his home in the Pacific Palisades, reports The Hollywood Reporter. He is survived by his wife, Disney publicist Paulette Dauber, and their sons, Jeff and Zach.

Dauber was born on April 27, 1949 and received a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. He worked for Citibank before he switched careers. In 1983, he made his first appearance in an episode of The Fall Guy.

The actor made appearances in shows up until 2017. His credits include episodes of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Rules of Engagement, Workaholics, Scrubs, The Bernie Mac Show, Over There, New Girl, Judging Amy, 24, JAG, Knots Landing, The Twilight Zone, Newhart, Valerie, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Who’s The Boss?, Quantum Leap, Weird Science, Ally McBeal, Beverly Hills 90210, Days of Our Lives and Married… with Children.

In 1996, he played a toy store manager in Jingle All The Way, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also had a brief role in 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give and 2005’s The Island.

Dauber was also an associate producer on the 2001 independent movie My Bonneville.

Dauber’s final appearance came in the Lethal Weapon episode “Brotherly Love.” The episode aired during the first season, which featured Damon Wayans as Roger Murtaugh and Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs. The series lasted three seasons, and was cancelled after low ratings during Season 3. Crawford was fired for abusive behavior on set and replaced by Seann William Scott, whose new character was never embraced by fans.

Later in life, Dauber earned a master’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s and taught humanities classes at the college on weekends in the film and social justice departments.

According to Variety, Dauber’s funeral is scheduled for Monday at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. Donations can be made in Dauber’s memory to Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles or the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

Photo credit: Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives