Timothy Clark Choate (October 11, 1954 – September 24, 2004) was an American
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
who starred in a number of film and television roles on series such as ''
Dragnet'' and ''
Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
''.
Choate was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, the son of Betty Nell (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Strong), a commercial artist, and Ben Tom Choate, who worked in building and construction. He appeared in theater productions while attending the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
in Austin and also attended
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
.
He was active on stage in both New York and Hollywood. On Broadway, he appeared in ''
Crimes of the Heart
''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, th ...
'' and ''
Da''. He also performed at the Los Angeles Shakespeare Fest in ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...
'' and ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor
''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'' as well as in the Los Angeles production of ''
Beyond Therapy''. Choate appeared in regional productions at the Long Wharf Theater, the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
and the
Berkshire Theatre Festival
The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating 100 years of theatre in 2028.
History
The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was originally the Stockbridge Casin ...
.
His film appearances included several
Merchant Ivory
A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
productions including ''
The Europeans
''The Europeans: A sketch'' is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the "new" world of New England. The nov ...
'' (1979), ''
Jane Austen in Manhattan'' (1980), and ''
Jefferson in Paris
''Jefferson in Paris'' is a 1995 historical drama film, directed by James Ivory, and previously entitled ''Head and Heart''. The screenplay, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, is a semi-fictional account of Thomas Jefferson's tenure as the Ambassador of ...
'' (1995); ''
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
'' (1980), ''
Ghost Story
A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
'' (1981), ''
Blow Out
''Blow Out'' is a 1981 American independent mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-bud ...
'' (1981), ''
Def-Con 4'' (1985), the Oscar-winning short ''
Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall
''Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall'' is a 1987 American short film, short comedy film directed by Bryan Gordon. At the 60th Academy Awards, held in 1988, it won an Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, Best S ...
'' (1987), ''
Soapdish
''Soapdish'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman (American director), Michael Hoffman, from a screenplay by Robert Harling (writer), Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman. The film was produced by Aaron Spelling and Alan Greis ...
'' (1991), ''
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...
'' (1992), ''
Live Nude Girls'' (1995), and ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
'' (2001).
On television, he played
Zathras
The list of ''Babylon 5'' characters contains characters from the entire ''Babylon 5'' universe. In the show, the Babylon station was conceived as a political and cultural meeting place. As such, one of the show's many themes is the cultural and ...
on ''
Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
'' and had a recurring role on ''
Newhart
''Newhart'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, respe ...
'', as well as appearing in several TV movies, notably ''
Blind Witness'' (1989), ''
Highway to Heaven
''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred its creator and co-director Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth to help peo ...
'' (1989) and ''
Child in the Night'' (1990), and guesting on shows including ''
The Practice
''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy i ...
'', ''
Diagnosis: Murder'', ''
The Bold and the Beautiful
''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...
'', 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 ...
''. He played Michael Killup in the ''
Tales from the Darkside
''Tales from the Darkside'' is an American horror anthology television series created by George A. Romero. A pilot episode was first broadcast on October 29, 1983. The series was picked up for syndication, and the first season premiered on S ...
'' episode "Halloween Candy" (1985).
He was killed in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles, California in 2004, aged 49. He is interred at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles.
As of 2024, Glendale ha ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Choate, Tim
1954 births
2004 deaths
Male actors from Dallas
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Cornell University alumni
Motorcycle road incident deaths
Road incident deaths in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male actors