He would not make his Broadway debut until 1980 when he starred in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine.
Multiple Broadway appearances followed, including The Visit, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Price and, his final, Hedda Gabler in 2001.
Yulin also had a long and busy career Off Broadway and in regional theater.
According to his family, Yulin was delighted to be working on this with Hoffman (who had directed Yulin in the film Game 6 in 2005) and so many artists he was close with and admired.
“Harris Yulin was very simply one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered,” said director Michael Hoffman.
Actor Harris Yulin, who starred in a number of films, including Scarface, Clear and Present Danger, Ghostbusters, Training Day, and Broadway productions like Hedda Gabler, The Price, The Visit, and Watch on the Rhine, passed away in New York City on June 10 from cardiac arrest. He was 87 years old.
Sue Leibman, his manager and family, announced his passing.
Born in Los Angeles on November 5, 1937, Yulin debuted on stage in James Saunders’ Next Time I’ll Sing to You in New York in 1963. In 1980, he starred in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine, marking his Broadway debut. His subsequent Broadway appearances included The Visit, The Price, The Diary of Anne Frank, and, in 2001, Hedda Gabler.
Yulin made appearances in movies like Candy Mountain, Game 6, Omni Loop, Wanderland, All sq\., and Multiplicity, effectively utilizing his frequently amusing and menacing demeanor. He starred in notable TV shows like Veep, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, And Just Like That, Billions, Divorce, and WIOU. He also had a significant arc on the Netflix series Ozark.
His work on Frasier earned him an Emmy nomination in 1996.
Off Broadway and in regional theater, Yulin also had a lengthy and active career. He appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Chautauqua Festival and Long Day’s Journey Into Night at The Court Theater in Chicago. He appeared in Arthur Miller’s final play, Finishing the Picture, at the Goodman Theater and starred in Death of a Salesman in Dublin at the Gate Theater. At the Bay Street Theater, where he directed Joe Pintauro’s Men’s Lives, he starred in Frost Nixon.
Yulin directed a number of plays, such as Guild Hall’s The Glass Menagerie and Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, which received four Lucille Lortel Awards during its lengthy run at The Signature Theater in New York before relocating to The Goodman Theater in Chicago. He was also the director of The Man Who Came to Dinner and This Lime Tree Bower.
In the East End of Long Island, where he lived and fell deeply in love, Yulin and Mercedes Ruehl performed in numerous chamber pieces. Before he passed away, Harris and Stacy Keach were collaborating on new projects.
In addition, Yulin spent eight years as a director and instructor at Juilliard, New York City’s HB Studios, and Columbia University’s The Graduate School of the Arts.
In the weeks leading up to his passing, Yulin was getting ready to begin filming this week in a leading part in the MGM+ series American Classic, which was directed by Michael Hoffman and starred Kevin Kline and Laura Linney. His family claims that Yulin was thrilled to be collaborating on this with Hoffman, who had directed Yulin in the 2005 movie Game 6, as well as numerous other artists he admired and was close to.
Director Michael Hoffman declared that Harris Yulin was “just one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered.”. His work had an immediacy, vitality, and purity that I have never seen in any other work because of his marriage of immense technique with a constant sense of discovery. In addition to his qualities as an actor, he possessed grace, humility, and generosity as a man. His presence at American Classic has been a blessing to all of us. He will always be the center of our program.
Husband Kristen Lowman, nephew Martin Crane, son-in-law Ted Mineo, and godchildren Marco and Lara Greenberg are among Yulin’s surviving family members. Actress Claire Lucido, his daughter, predeceased him.
A memorial service is scheduled for a later time.
