'Mary Tyler Moore' Actor Harold Gould Dead at 86

By Amber James Posted Sep 14th 2010 10:00AM

Harold Gould, who starred on 'Rhoda' and 'The Golden Girls,' passed away Saturday in Woodland Hills, Calif., after a battle with prostate cancer, his spokeswoman, Jaime Larkin, told the NY Times. He was 86.

Gould is survived by his wife, the former Lea Shampanier, who he married in 1950; a daughter, Deborah; two sons, Joshua and Lowell; and five grandchildren.

Gould was an American actor best known for playing Martin Morgenstern on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and its spin-off, 'Rhoda.' He also appeared as Miles Webber on 'The Golden Girls.'

During Gould's nearly 50 year career, he appeared in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, including 'The Sting,' and over 100 stage plays. He received five Emmy nominations for his work.

He was also featured on 'Dennis the Menace,' 'Mister Ed,' 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Hogan's Heroes.'

Gould was born in Schenectady, New York, to Louis and Lillian Goldstein. He enlisted in the Army during World War II and saw combat in France as a mortar gunner. When he returned, he graduated from New York State College for Teachers (now the State University at Albany).

After spending the summer performing at a theater on Cape Cod, he enrolled at Cornell University to study drama and speech and earned a Master of Arts degree in 1948 and a PhD in theater in 1953.

While at Cornell, he met his future wife, Lea.

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Tags: golden girls

Comments

(99)

Tuesday 14 September

By bob

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another good actor gone,seems in hollywood all the actors die off in threes,they dont make these likeable actors anymore,all ther actors now seem brash and trashy mostly,not like the old ones of the past,glad we have them all on film,nothing much worth watching in tv and movies anymore,they just dont make)m like they use too

By Jo

Your right, he was such a good actor...kind face, not tabloid trash....

By emily houser

yea, we have all this high tech equipment and nothing to watch but repeats over and over again.tv suxs. i wish we could get some kind of control over what airs and how many times.

By BTDT

I"ve always enjoyed this man's work.
Rest in piece Mr. Gould.

By lempdorpll

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My deapest condolences go out to my good friend Josh Gould (& his family) at this difficult time. I too lost my father a few months ago and I know that only time makes the sadness drift away. The stories that Josh has shared with me confirms that not only was Harold Gould a fine actor, but he was indeed a great man.Nice Pic!My boyfriend and i both think so..
I am almost 11year younger than him....we met each other onAgegapsingl'es.co'm ~a nice place for younger women and oldermen, or older women and younger men,to interact with each othe,why not go to have a look?maybe u wanna check it out or tell ur friends.

Wednesday 15 September

By estella

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You've got that right Bob! We'll miss you Harold.

By bob{Undo}

thats for sure!!!!!!!!

By Anita

How true, how true! It seems most film actors/actresses now are as Bob described above.

By Wayne Miller

You made us Schenectadians proud.

By jannykmac

I first noticed Mr. Gould in "The Sting", a movie starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. He was exceptionally memorable!

By rlbdtb

I did not know he was from Schenectady, NY! I am from Amsterdam, NY and that is just outside of Schenectady. Another fine actor from the Upstate NY region gone. I agree, actors are not as good as they used to be and it all seems to have started to go downhill in the '90s. He was one of the elite and treated his wife and family as one should and not as a "throw away" like MOST actors today. He was married to the same woman for 60 years! (Unheard of in todays society.) Rest In Peace Mr. Harold Gould (Gouldstein) and God Bless your family.

By kim

His bith name was Goldstein not Gouldstein.

By GeekyGirl

That what the marriage vows really mean, "till death do us part"!!! Prayers and condolences to the family of Mr. Gould. He will be missed.

By rudewaitress

Strange that Popeater chose to pigeonhole him as a 'Mary Tyler Moore' actor when he only did 2 episodes. He was most widely known for 'Rhoda' and 'The Golden Girls'. Regardless, he was a wonderful actor who knew his craft. God bless...

By Lita

He wasn't "pigeonholed" as a Mary Tyler Moore actor in this piece. He may have appeared in only two episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," but he appeared on several episodes of "Rhoda," which was a Mary Tyler Moore production. Get it, rude? I will miss the man; he was definitely one of my favorite actors and, I've heard, was nice as the Martin Mogenstern character that he played so well on TV.

By Ladyblue

Lita, you are the one being rude here...I believe the poster was referring to the headline which IS misleading; as others have said, I thought it was MTM herself who died (or even Ed Asner or Gavin McLeod who played Murray). After all the TV shows, theatre work and movies this great man did, he deserves a better headline than that (especially when he only did two episodes of her show).

RIP Mr. Gould.

By SteveG

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RIP Harold. Actually, not strange at all that Popeater chose to use the Mary Tyler Moore show as the story headline. It's all about AOL (which owns Popeater) leading the most people to click on the link, which translates to them being able to charge more for advertising on the site. This results in often disappointing/misleading headlines.

By Larry

Agree! VERY misleading headline-as is so often the case on internet.

By bestbunny10

No. Harold Gould was not just known for MTMS or Rhoda or whatever...Her had a long career in film and theater going back decades. He did Tv later in life. It is an insult to say that he was a MTMS actor. He was far greater than anyone who appeared on that show. It was a good show but hardly in the same caliber of the long Bio sheet on Harold Gould. RIP. Its a shame the younger generation will never know or appreciate such talent.

Wonderful actor from an incredible age of acting and theater. They are almost all gone now and its sad that this generation will not know such quality. RIP Harold you were a wonderful actor..say Hi to Jack Lemmon and Walter when you get there!!!

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