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Fyvush Finkel, Actor Known for Picket Fences and Boston Public, Has Died

Fyvush Finkel at the Drama Desk awards in New York City in 2011.

Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images for Drama Desk Awards

Fyvush Finkel, the actor and comedian who was one of the last living links to New York’s Yiddish theater scene, died Sunday morning at the age of 93, the New York Times reports. Finkel is best known for his role as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh on David E. Kelley’s show Picket Fences, for which he won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1994.

Finkel’s career began at the age of 9, singing “Oh Promise Me” during a play’s wedding scene; at the time, he was a soprano. He found great success in the Yiddish theater, a vibrant Jewish acting scene centered around Second Avenue in New York City. Finkel, the son of a Brooklyn tailor, spoke Yiddish at home but had to learn a more formal version of the language for the stage. When the Yiddish theater started fading after World War II, Finkel transitioned to touring the Catskills as a comedian and monologist.

After Cole Porter turned him down for a role in Can-Can in 1952, he vowed not to audition for crossover roles but broke his vow in 1965 to try out for Fiddler on the Roof. He got the part of the innkeeper, then worked his way up to playing Tevye in the touring production over the course of 12 years. In the 1980s, he had a five-year stint as shopkeeper Mr. Mushnick in Little Shop of Horrors. He explained his lengthy runs to the Hollywood Reporter, saying, “I never leave a hit.”*

Finkel achieved his widest fame through his collaboration with David E. Kelley, who cast him as a defense lawyer on Picket Fences, which ran for four seasons between 1992 and 1996 on CBS. Finkel worked with Kelley again on Boston Public from 2000 to 2004, playing history teacher Harvey Lipschultz. In 2009, Finkel was able to perform in Yiddish on film, when the Coen brothers cast him in A Serious Man’s creepy opening scene. Finkel’s wife of more than six decades died in 2008; he is survived by his brother, two sons, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

*Correction, Aug. 15, 2016: This post originally misspelled the Hollywood Reporter.