David Birney, 'Bridget Loves Bernie' and 'St. Elsewhere’ actor, dead at 83
Fox News
David Birney found his signature role in the short-lived "Bridget Loves Bernie," a CBS situation comedy about the marriage of Jewish cab driver and a Catholic schoolteacher.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Cleveland, Birney had studied theater at UCLA when, in 1965, he began acting in regional theaters across the country, including the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, and the Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut.
In 1967, he performed in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of "A Comedy of Errors," and in 1969 he made his Broadway debut as Cleante in Molière’s "The Miser." In all, he appeared in seven Broadway productions through 1985, including "The Good Woman of Setzuan" (1970), "The Playboy of the Western World" (1971), "An Enemy of the People" (1971), "Antigone" (1971), "Amadeus" (1980) and "Benefactors" (1985).