Peter Scolari, Star of Bosom Buddies, Newhart, and Evil Dies

We’ve got very sad news out of Hollywood today.

Peter Scolari, the beloved actor who rose to fame starring with Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies has died.

He was 66 years old.

Scolari died on Friday after a two-year battle with cancer, Variety has reported.

In addition to Bosom Buddies, Scolari also starred in Girls with Lena Dunham.

Playing Tad Horvath, Hannah’s father, scored him an Emmy nomination and win for Guest Actor in a Comedy.

It wasn’t an easy road to that deserved award, as he was only added to the Emmy Nominations List after Peter MacNicol was disqualified for appearing in too many episodes.

Scolari was also a featured member of the great ensemble cast on Newhart, where he starred as Michael Harris.

He joined Newhart in 1984 after guest-starring twice during the beginning of the series.

That role landed Scolari three Emmy nominations from 1987-1989.

Most recently, he was seen as Bishop Thomas Marx on the Paramount+ series, Evil.

Scolari was born in New Rochelle, New York on September 12, 1955.

He fell into acting at age 16 during a high school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and dreamed of becoming a baseball player, a dream that was scuttled after an injury.

He had married four times, and leaves behind his current wife, Tracy Shayne, and two children from his marriage to Cathy Trien and two from his marriage with Debra Steagall.

EVIL co-creator Robert King remembered Peter in a series of tweets.

King called Scolari “one of the funniest — sneakily funny — actors we’ve worked with. He always took a nothing scene and found different ways to twist it, and throw in odd pauses that made it jump. I will try to collect my thoughts more. He was just wonderful.”

“To watch Peter Scolari’s dailies was a thrill because he always found new ways to go,” the EP continued.

“He molded the highs and lows of a scene, but always looking for the comic spin, and he’d massage a phrase with each take until he could hear the laughter in his head. This is a real loss.”

King added, “It always felt like [he] found new ways to wear the priest wardrobe for comic effect.”

“He knew his role was essentially funny, even though he often played straight man to something absurd said by another character. But he knew the laugh was in the reaction not the action.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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