Ron Leibman, who won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1993 for originating the role of Roy Cohn in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, died December 6; he was 82.
Mr. Leibman was well-known in the theatre community and Hollywood for his turns in shows like Friends (playing Rachel's father, Dr. Leonard Green) and Kaz, the latter for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. He also appeared in such films as Norma Rae, Slaughterhouse Five, and Where’s Poppa?.
Throughout his stage career, the performer appeared in productions of God of Vengeance, We Bombed in New Haven, Transfers, and The Merchant of Venice, among others. He reprised the role of Cohn when Angels in America: Perestroika opened on Broadway in November 1993, earning a Drama Desk nomination.
Born October 11, 1937, in New York City, Mr. Leibman grew up in Manhattan and attended Ohio Wesleyan University. Following his dreams of working in the theatre, the performer traveled across the Midwest, joining various improv troupes throughout the ‘50s. The following decade, he made his Broadway debut as Peter Nemo in Dear Me, The Sky is Falling.
More recently, the star was seen in the 2010 film A Little Help, and heard in the FX animated series Archer, lending his vocal talents as the recurring character Ron Cadillac.
Mr. Leibman is survived by his wife, Arrested Development star Jessica Walter, his stepdaughter Brooke, and a grandson.
