John Gabriel (born Jack Monkarsh; May 25, 1931 – June 11, 2021) was an American actor, singer-lyricist, and producer who is best known for his role as

Seneca Beaulac This is a list of characters that appear on the ABC soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' from 1975 to 1989. A ;Sheik Haroun Al Raschid :(Played by Kaleel Sakakeeny, 1981) ::Financial backer of archaeological excavations ;Ken Alexander :(Played by Will ...

on ''

Ryan's Hope ''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in ...

'' (1975–1985, 1988–1989), for which he received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nomination in 1980. Gabriel, who played the Professor in the original, unaired ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' pilot, was the father of actress

Andrea Gabriel Andrea Gabriel is an American actress. She is known for her role on the ABC drama series '' Lost'' as Sayid Jarrah's love interest Nadia Jazeem. Acting career Aside from her recurring role in ''Lost'', Gabriel has guest starred in ''Criminal ...

. He appeared on Broadway in ''The Happy Time'' in 1968, and produced the shortlived eponymous television series ''Charles Grodin'' starring

Charles Grodin Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...

in 1995.

Family

Gabriel was born in

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the fame ...

, the youngest of three children of Harry and Rae Monkarsh. His parents were of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

descent. His father was born in then-

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

Career

Gabriel, throughout his career as an actor and singer, worked steadily in a wide variety of capacities. He appeared on stage in two Broadway productions, ''The Happy Time'' and the musical ''Applause'', as well as

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

in ''Fighting International Fat'' at the

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

. Gabriel played numerous character roles in film and television over a period of five decades. He portrayed Pedro in the

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

movie ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

'' and also composed its title song in collaboration with

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Recor ...

. He starred in ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

,'' ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'', and ''

''. From 1973 to 1975, he had a recurring role as WJM-TV sportscaster Andy Rivers on ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moo ...

''. As a singer, Gabriel appeared on numerous television shows, including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

,'' ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'', ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...

'', and '' Regis and Kathy Lee'', among others. He produced the ''Charles Grodin Show'' for six years.

''Words and Music''

In 2004, Gabriel wrote and produced, along with his actress wife Sandy Gabriel, best known for her role of Edna Thornton on ''All My Children'', a nightclub act which he regularly toured across the United States. The show, titled ''Words And Music'', was a celebration of classic American song interspersed with stories culled from Gabriel's vast experience in show business. In 2010, the production was videotaped in Los Angeles.

Death

John Gabriel died on June 11, 2021, at age 90. His daughter attributed his death to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Selected filmography

Selected television appearances

References

External links

*
Profile
Internet Broadway Database; accessed March 6, 2016. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel, John 1931 births 2021 deaths American male television actors American male film actors American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Musicians from Niagara Falls, New York Place of death missing Male actors from New York (state) American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)