Philip "Fyvush" Finkel (; October 9, 1922 – August 14, 2016) was an American actor and director known as a star of Yiddish theater and for his role as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh on the television series '' Picket Fences'', for which he earned an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1994. He is also known for his portrayal of Harvey Lipschultz, a crotchety history teacher, on the television series ''

Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high sc ...

''.

Early life

Philip Finkel was born at home in Brownsville, Brooklyn,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the third of four sons of Jewish immigrant parents, Mary ("Miryam"), a housewife from

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus, and Harry ("Cwi Hirsh") Finkel, a tailor from

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. He adopted the stage name "Fyvush", a common

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

given name.

Career

Finkel first appeared on the stage at age 9, and acted for almost 35 years in the thriving Yiddish theaters of the Yiddish Theater District of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, as well as performing as a standup comic in the Catskills' Borscht Belt. In 2008, he recalled:

I played child parts till I was 14, 15, then my voice changed. So I decided to learn a trade and went to a vocational high school in New York. I studied to be a furrier, but I never worked at it. As soon as I graduated high school, I went to a stock company in Pittsburgh, a Jewish theater, and I played there for 38 weeks, and that's where I actually learned my trade a little bit as an adult.

He worked regularly until the ethnic venues began dying out in the early 1960s, then made his

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

debut in the original 1964 production of the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' Fiddler on the Roof'', joining the cast as Mordcha, the innkeeper, in 1965. The production ran through July 2, 1972. Finkel then played Lazar Wolf, the butcher, in the limited run 1981 Broadway revival, and eventually played the lead role of Tevye the milkman for years in the national touring company. Shortly afterward, Finkel succeeded Hy Anzell in the role of Mr. Mushnik in the

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 tha ...

musical '' Little Shop of Horrors''. Then in 1988, Finkel's work as "Sam" in the New York

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Festival revival of the Yiddish classic '' Cafe Crown'' earned him an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

and a Drama Desk nomination. Finkel made his movie debut in the English-subtitled, Yiddish sketch-comedy revue ''Monticello, Here We Come'' (1950), then after small parts in an episode of the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Kojak'' in 1977 and the

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''Evergreen'' in 1985, returned to film in the detective comedy ''Off Beat'' (1986). That same year saw a role opposite Robin Williams in a PBS '' American Playhouse'' adaptation of

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...

's novel '' Seize the Day'', and a role in the film adaptation of

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's Broadway comedy '' Brighton Beach Memoirs''. An appearance as a lawyer in director

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

's '' Q & A'' (1990) led TV producer-writer David E. Kelley to cast Finkel as public defender Douglas Wambaugh in the television series '' Picket Fences'' ( CBS, 1992–1996). For the role, Finkel earned a 1994

, announcing at the televised ceremonies that he had waited 51 years for that moment. Following the end of ''Picket Fences'', Finkel had a regular role on the short-lived revival of '' Fantasy Island'' ( ABC, 1998) and then reteamed with writer-producer Kelley to play history teacher Harvey Lipschultz in ''

'' ( Fox; 2000–04). Through the 1990s and 2000s, Finkel appeared in movies including ''Nixon'' and ''The Crew'', guested on TV series including '' Chicago Hope'', '' Law & Order'', '' Early Edition'', and '' Hollywood Squares'', and provided voiceovers for episodes of the

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' (" Lisa's Sax") and ''

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. It is the fifth Nicktoons, Nicktoon after ''Doug (TV series), Doug'', ''Rugrats'', ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' and ''Rocko's Modern Li ...

'' ("Ickis! You'll Be Snorched!") and the animated direct-to-video feature '' The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars''. In 2009, he appeared in the Coen brothers' film '' A Serious Man'', and in 2013 had a guest appearance in '' Blue Bloods'' ("Men In Black") Finkel continued to appear onstage in productions such as ''Fyvush Finkel: From Second Avenue to Broadway'' (1997) and Classic Stage Company's historical drama ''New Jerusalem'' (2007), by playwright David Ives.

Personal life

Finkel was married to Trudi Lieberman from March 1947 until her death in 2009. They had two sons: Ian, a musical arranger and xylophonist, and Elliot, a concert pianist. Finkel died in Manhattan on August 14, 2016, at the age of 93, as a result of heart problems.

Awards

*American Comedy Award for his performance in ''Picket Fences'' (1993) *

for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, '' Picket Fences'' (1993–94) *

for his performance in ''Cafe Crown'' (1988–89)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * *
Profile: Fyvush Finkel
Aveleyman.com; accessed September 22, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkel, Fyvush 1922 births 2016 deaths Yiddish theatre performers American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors Jewish American male actors Jews from New York (state) Male actors from Brooklyn Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners American vaudeville performers Obie Award recipients People from Brownsville, Brooklyn American male voice actors 21st-century American Jews Burials at Montefiore Cemetery