Norman Fell (born Norman Noah Feld; March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

Mr. Roper on the sitcom ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom '' Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single room ...

'' and its spin-off, ''

The Ropers ''The Ropers'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 1980. It is a spin-off of ''Three's Company'' and loosely based on the British sitcom ''George and Mildred'', which was itself a spin-off o ...

'', and his film roles in '' Ocean's 11'' (1960), ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'' (1967), and ''

Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...

'' (1968). Early in his career, he was billed as Norman Feld.

Early life

Fell was born on March 24, 1924, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, to Samuel and Edna Feld. His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. He attended

Central High School of Philadelphia Central High School is a public high school in the LoganLogan Redevelopment Area ...

. He studied drama at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

after serving as a

tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or a ...

on a

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He later honed his craft at

The Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founde ...

and the Black Hills Players.

Career

Aside from Fell's best-known television work, he also played minor

character roles A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric character (arts), characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, ". ...

in several films, including the original '' Ocean's 11'', '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'', '' PT 109'', ''

'', ''

'' and ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non- ...

'' (as Sergeant Towser). He appeared alongside

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in Reagan's last film, ''

The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...

''. In 1992, he starred as a hotel owner in a comedy film titled '' Hexed''. On TV, Fell portrayed Mike in ''

Joe and Mabel ''Joe and Mabel'' is an American comedy series about a cab driver and his girlfriendTim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present, 1st Edition'', pages 307-308, Ballantine Books, 197 ...

'' (1955–1956), Howie Fletcher in ''

The Tom Ewell Show ''The Tom Ewell Show'', also known as ''The Trouble With Tom'', is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS during the 1960-61 television season. It depicts the challenges a husband and father faces as he resides in a household otherwise c ...

'' (1960–1961), Meyer Meyer in '' 87th Precinct'' (1961–1962), Charles Wilentz in '' Dan August'' (1970–1971), Nathan Davidson in '' Needles and Pins'' (1973), Bernie Solkin in '' Executive Suite'' (1976–1977), Richie's father in ''

Richie Brockelman, Private Eye ''Richie Brockelman, Private Eye'' is an American detective drama that aired on NBC for five episodes in March and April 1978, with Dennis Dugan in the starring role. ''The Rockford Files'' was used to launch the series via character crossover in ...

'' (1978), and Ben Cooper in '' Teachers Only'' (1982–1983). From 1977 to 1979, Fell portrayed the main characters' landlord Stanley Roper on the hit

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' (a role with some similarities to Mr. McCleery in ''The Graduate''). He continued the role as the co-lead with

Audra Lindley Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off ''The Ropers''. Life and career Audra Lindley was born ...

playing his wife, Helen, on ''

'', a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

which lasted two seasons, airing from 1979 to 1980. Fell won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role in 1979 for ''Three's Company''. He was nominated for 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 ...

for his dramatic performance as the boxing trainer of Tom Jordache ( Nick Nolte) in the miniseries '' Rich Man, Poor Man''. His final television appearance was a cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: *Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'' in 1997.

Personal life

On May 21, 1950, Fell married Dolores Pikoos in Philadelphia. They divorced in 1954 and Fell married and divorced two subsequent times. He had two daughters, Tracy and Mara, with his second wife and adopted a son with his third wife, Karen Weingard.

Death

On November 26 (

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

) of 1998, Fell had become too weak to get out of bed at his

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The ...

home. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with

bone marrow cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

. He died at the Motion Picture and Television's retirement home in Woodland Hills, California on December 14, 1998, at the age of 74.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * (as Norman Feld) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fell, Norman 1924 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Jewish American male actors Male actors from Philadelphia Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma United States Army Air Forces soldiers Temple University alumni 20th-century American Jews