14 Facts About Richard Dysart

Richard Dysart was born to Alice and Douglas Dysart, a podiatrist, near Boston, Massachusetts, on March 30,1929.

At the encouragement of his mother, Dysart performed in summer stock at the Lakewood Theater near Skowhegan.

Richard Dysart earned both bachelor's and master's in speech communication from Emerson College in Boston, although his undergraduate education was interrupted due to his service for four years in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.

Richard Dysart was a brother of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity.

Richard Dysart returned for his master's degree later, completing it in 1981.

Richard Dysart was a founding member of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, which began in 1965.

Richard Dysart performed on Broadway in All in Good Time and A Place Without Doors, and a revival of The Little Foxes as Horace Giddens, alongside Anne Bancroft.

Richard Dysart played the role of Coach in the original Broadway production of Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season, alongside Charles Durning and Paul Sorvino, from 1972 to 1974.

In 1979, Richard Dysart portrayed a good-hearted physician treating a dying billionaire in the film Being There, starring Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas.

Richard Dysart voiced the kindly miner Uncle Pom in the Disney English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 adventure classic Castle in the Sky, and the character of Cogliostro on Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Animated Series, which aired on HBO.

Richard Dysart appeared in an episode of the 1976 television series Sara.

Richard Dysart received a Drama Desk Award in 1972 for his role as Coach in That Championship Season.

Richard Dysart had no children of his own, but had a stepson from his third wife and two step-grandchildren.

Richard Dysart died at home in Santa Monica, California on April 5,2015, after a long battle with cancer.