Kenneth Tigar

Kenneth Tigar (born September 24, 1942) is an American actor, primarily on American television, and translator.

Kenneth Tigar
Born	Kenneth Leslie Tigar (1942-09-24) September 24, 1942 (age 82) Chelsea, Massachusetts
Occupation(s)	Actor, translator
Years active	1975–present

Life

Kenneth Leslie Tigar was born into a Jewish family in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and raised in the Greater Boston Area.^[1][2]

He received his BA and Ph.D. in German literature from Harvard University. As an undergraduate, he was active in theater as both an actor and a director. He spent a year at the University of Göttingen and performed in Vienna and other European cities.^[3]

Career

Tigar made his film debut in The Happy Hooker (1975). He went on to play Mr. Raymaker in Just One of the Guys (1985) and Professor Swivet in 18 Again! (1988). Tigar's later film roles include playing a bomb squad leader in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Weil in Primal Fear (1996), a lawyer in Conspiracy Theory (1997), and a brief but pivotal part as a German resister to Loki in The Avengers (2012).

He has appeared in numerous television shows, including starring as the short-tempered Captain Jensen in L.A. Heat from 1997 to 1999, appearing in a total of 47 episodes. He guest-starred in two episodes of Cheers, playing different characters – "The Boys in the Bar" in Season 1 as a gay character called Fred, and later in Season 4's "Don Juan Is Hell", as a professor of Diane's.^[4] He also played Dr. Gordon on Dallas, Sid Sidlevich (Maggie's boss) on Growing Pains, Fritz Heath on Dynasty, Dr. Keinholz on ER, and Walter Doyle on House of Cards,^[5] among many other roles.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	The Happy Hooker	Steve	Screen debut
1978	The Gypsy Warriors	SS Captain Schullman
1981	Gangster Wars	Thomas E. Dewey
1985	Just One of the Guys	Mr. Raymaker
	Creator	Pavlo
1987	Jake's M.O.	Sol Godlman
1988	18 Again!	Professor Swivet
	Phantasm II	Father Meyers
1989	Lethal Weapon 2	Becker (bomb squad leader)
	The Runnin' Kind	Stan Shank
1992	Lethal Weapon 3	Becker (bomb squad leader)
1993	My Life	Dr. Califano
	Snapdragon	Captain
1995	Jade	Corporate Man
	Rage	Harry
1996	Cadillac Ranch	Clown	(as Ken Tigar)
	Primal Fear	Weil
	Riot	Harry Johansen
1997	Little Bigfoot	Largo
	Conspiracy Theory	Lawyer
	Hollywood Safari	Sheriff Todd
	A Thousand Acres	Doctor
	The Underground	Tim Scully
2000	Blessed Art Thou	Robert
2005	Time of Fear	Coroner
2012	The Avengers	Old German Man
2014	The Union	Earl
2015	Hell's Heart	Father Francis

Television works (selected)

Year	Production	Role	Notes
1976	The Adams Chronicles	Secretary	TV miniseries, 1 episode
1976–1981	Barney Miller	Stefan Koepeknie / Elliot Porter / Fletcher / Jesus Christ / Philip Pollock	6 episodes
1977	Man from Atlantis	Dr. Miller Simon	3 episodes
	The Waltons	Clem Beal
1978	Actor	The Farmer	TV movie
1978	Charlie's Angels	Danner	Episode: "Antique Angels"
1978	Kaz	Verdict in Department 12
1978	The Rock Rainbow	Jim	TV movie
1978	The Rockford Files	Jerry Simpson	Episode: "Local Man Eaten by Newspaper"
1979	Project U.F.O.	Ron Denby	Episode: "Sighting 4024: The Scoutmaster Incident"
1979	Barnaby Jones	Gavin Brewster	Episode: "Fatal Overture"
1979	The Golden Gate Murders	Father O'Brien	TV movie
1980	Love, Natalie	The Guest	TV movie
1980	Eight Is Enough	Mr. Whitney	Episode: "Jeremy"
1980	The Babysitter	Tom Montgomery	TV movie
1981	CHiPs	Webb	Episode: "Finders Keepers"
	The Gangster Chronicles	Thomas E. Dewey	13 episodes
	Nero Wolfe	Morty Barbage	Episode: "The Blue Ribbon Hostage"
	Park Place	Hammond	Episode: "Crazy Judge"
	The Big Black Pill	Trotter	TV movie
	WKRP in Cincinnati	Dr. Hunnisett	Episode: "Frog Story"
1982	Pray TV	Parker	TV movie
1982	Bosom Buddies	Spinkus	Episode: "Hildy's Dirt Nap"
1982	The Facts of Life	Mr. Garfield	Episode: "Daddy's Girl"
1983	Knight Rider	Dr. Kempler	Episode: "Give Me Liberty... or Give Me Death"
1983	Missing Pieces	Alan Rosenus	TV movie
1983	Special Bulletin	Dr. Abraham Sczrsma	TV movie
1983	Thursday's Child	Bill Richardson	TV movie
1983–1984	Hart to Hart	Baldwin / Harold Ashby	2 episodes
1983–1985	Cheers	Fred / Dr. Lowell Greenspon	2 episodes
1983–1986	Hill Street Blues	Randolph Scripps	2 episodes
1984	Fatal Vision	Pathologist	TV movie
1985	Simon & Simon	Larry Trowbridge	2 episodes
	Night Court	Mr. Slotkin	1 episode - "The Hostage"
1986	Magnum, P.I.	Milton Collins	Episode: "Death and Taxes"
	Hunter	Judge Calvin Tyler	Episode: "True Confessions"
	Webster	Mr. Terry	Episode: "A Test of Character"
1986–1993	L.A. Law	Clarence O'Malley
1987	The Betty Ford Story	Dr. Lukash	TV movie
	Dallas	Dr. Gordon	4 episodes
	Night Court	Gus Melman	1 episode - "Her Honor, Part 4"
	Highway To Heaven	Mr. Meyers	1 episode - "Normal People"
1987–1989	Growing Pains	Sid Sidlevich	6 episodes
1988	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Margan (uncredited)	1 episode - "Symbiosis"
1988–1989	Dynasty	Fritz Heath	5 episodes
1989	Who's the Boss?	Mr. Timmons	Episode: "In Sam We Trust"
1990	Newhart	"Mom" - Game store owner	1 episode
1992	Quantum Leap	Ben Steiner
1993	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Dr. Samuel Platt	1 episode - Pilot
1995	Beverly Hills, 90210	Mr. Warren
1996	Murder, She Wrote	Dave Pittman
1997	Star Trek: Voyager	Dammar
1997	Sunset Beach	Dr. Anthony Moulton	2 episodes
1998	ER	Dr. Keinholz	2 episodes
1998	Route 9	Bank Manager	TV movie
1999	The X-Files	Dr. Plant	1 episode - "S.R. 819"
1999	The West Wing	Congressman Gladman
1999	L.A. Heat	Captain Jensen
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Terrence Winthrop	1 episode - "Privilege"
2008–2009	Fringe	Johan Lennox	speaking German
2010	Boardwalk Empire	Doctor Lissenger (Dentist)
2011	Nurse Jackie	Dentist
2012	Elementary	Philip Armistead[6]
2013–2018	House of Cards	Walter Doyle[7]	4 episodes
2013–2014	Alpha House	Senator Paul Mower[8]	4 episodes
2016	Madam Secretary	Scientist	1 episode - "On the Clock"
2016–2019	The Man In The High Castle	Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler	13 episodes
2017	Blindspot	Sean Clark[9]
2018–2022	Bull	Judge Javonovich	2 episodes
2020, 2023	Hunters	Heinz Richter	2 episodes - "In the Belly of the Whale"; "The Trial of Adolf Hitler"
2021	Evil	Winston	Episode: "S Is for Silence"[10]
2024	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Detective (ret.) Ed McCluskey	1 episode - "Marauder"

References

1. "Veteran character actor Kenneth Tigar at Geva". YouTube. January 21, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
2. "Actor Kenneth Tigar discusses "Freud's Last Session"". January 22, 2014.
3. Tigar archives, hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu. Accessed November 3, 2022.
4. Society), SPS (Sitcom Preservation (2014-09-01). Cheers TV Show: A Comprehensive Reference. Praetorian Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9679852-3-7.
5. "House of Cards Full Cast and Crew". November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via IMDb.
6. "Déjà Vu All Over Again". March 14, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2016 – via IMDb.
7. "House of Cards Full Cast and Crew". November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via IMDb.
8. "Alpha House". April 19, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2016 – via IMDb.
9. "Name Not One Man". February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017 – via IMDb.
10. "S Is for Silence". 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2024 – via IMDb.

External links

• Kenneth Tigar at IMDb