Tige Andrews (born Tiger Androwas; March 19, 1920 – January 27, 2007) was an American
character actor
A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...
. He is best remembered for his law-enforcement roles as Captain Adam Greer and Lieutenant Johnny Russo in two
ABC crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
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 ...
: ''
The Mod Squad
''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, Pegg ...
'', and ''
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor'', respectively.
Early life
Andrews was born Tiger Androwas
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York, one of ten children
to Selma (née Shaleesh; ) and George E. Androwas (), who immigrated from what is now
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. His family's surname was originally "Androwas".
His parents, following Syrian custom, named him after a strong animal to ensure good health. His mother died when he was three years old, and his father later remarried.
Andrews moved with his family to
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
where Andrews graduated from
Bound Brook High School.
His father was in the fruit business, and Andrews worked for his father.
Andrews attended classes for a time at the
University of Beirut medical school.
During World War II, Andrews served with the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
's
45th Infantry Division, rising to the rank of
second lieutenant. He was medically discharged in 1944 for injuries sustained when his ship sank in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
.
He graduated from the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...
in New York in 1946.
Career
He appeared in the original 1948 cast of
Thomas Heggen and
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing ...
's war comedy ''
Mister Roberts'', in which he played the roles of Schlemmer and Insigna.
He changed his stage name from "Tiger" to "Tige" in 1954.
Director
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
saw the play while visiting New York and, remembering his performance in it years later,
cast him in the 1955 film version of ''
Mister Roberts''.
Andrews and
Henry Fonda were the only members of the Broadway cast to appear in the film.
Back in New York in 1955, Andrews won critical acclaim as The Streetsinger in the long-running revival of
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...
's translation of the Brecht-Weill musical, ''
The Threepenny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...
'', off-
Broadway. It featured German star
Lotte Lenya and an ensemble cast of future stars, including
Beatrice Arthur,
Jo Sullivan,
John Astin
John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is widely known for his role as patriarch Gomez Addams in ''The Addams Famil ...
,
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical and global celebrity on te ...
,
Ed Asner, and
Jerry Stiller. He reprised the role in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and went on to direct ''The Threepenny Opera'' in
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
.
Andrews made frequent appearances on television in the 1960s. In addition to being a cast member of ''
The Phil Silvers Show'' (1955–1957, as Tiger Andrews), Andrews appeared in such series as ''
U.S. Marshal''; ''
The Lawless Years
''The Lawless Years'' is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16, 1959, to September 22, 1961. The series is the first of its kind, set during the Roaring 20s, preceding '' The Untouchables'' by half a season.
Premise
T ...
''; ''
Mr. Novak
''Mr. Novak'' is an American television drama (film and television), drama television series starring James Franciscus in the title role as a high school teacher. The series aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965. It won a Peabody Award ...
''; ''
Dundee and the Culhane''; ''
The Big Valley''; ''
The Fugitive''; ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
''; ''
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''; and ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' as Kras in the episode "
Friday's Child", in which he was the first
Klingon
The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''.
Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
ever to die in that series.
His best known roles were Lieutenant Johnny Russo on ''The Detectives'' and as Captain Adam Greer on ''The Mod Squad''. For the latter role, he received both an
Emmy
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 catego ...
and a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
award nomination and won a
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...
. Andrews reunited with his fellow ''Mod Squad'' cast members for a 1979 made-for-television film, ''The Return Of Mod Squad''; it was their last appearance together. After ''The Mod Squad'' ended, Andrews continued to make guest appearances on various television series, such as ''
Kojak
''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...
''; ''
Marcus Welby, M.D.''; ''
Police Story''; ''
CHiPs''; and ''
Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
''.
His film career included roles in ''
Onionhead'' (1958), ''
A Private's Affair'' (1959), ''
In Enemy Country'' (1968), ''
The Last Tycoon'' (1976), and ''
Raid on Entebbe'' (1977, as
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...
). He retired from acting in the early 1990s after having appeared in more than one hundred acting roles onstage, on film and on television.
In addition to his acting career, Andrews was an accomplished painter and singer. His artwork has been shown in Los Angeles art galleries, and some was published in the book ''Actors As Artists'' by Jim McMullan and
Dick Gautier
Richard Gautier ( Go- tee- AY) (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series ''Get Smart'', and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series '' When Things ...
. He collaborated with Sandy Matlowsky and Sid Kuller on two original songs on his Tiger Records label in Los Angeles, California. "The Modfather" and "Keep America Beautiful" were the A and B sides of the vinyl 45 single release.
Personal life
In 1950 he married Norma Thornton, a ballerina who was a regular on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American 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 September 1971 by the ''CB ...
'' and appeared in the Broadway play ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. They had six children, three boys and three girls: Barbara, Gina, Julie, John, Steve and Tony, and eleven grandchildren.
He was previously married to Josephine Phillips, whom he wed in 1944 after his medical discharge from the Army.
Norma Thornton Andrews died in 1996.
Death
Andrews died of
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
at his home in
Encino, California, on January 27, 2007, aged 86.
[
]
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Obituary
in the ''Los Angeles Daily News
The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Tige
1920 births
2007 deaths
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Bound Brook High School alumni
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Male actors from Brooklyn
Male actors from Greater Los Angeles
People from Middlesex, New Jersey
American people of Syrian descent
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from Los Angeles
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
United States Army soldiers
Middle Eastern Christians
20th-century American male actors
Actors from Middlesex County, New Jersey