Orson Bean, droll actor, comedian and raconteur, dies at 91
ORSON Bean, a veteran actor and crackup artist who became a witty staple of game shows in the 1960s, then tuned in and dropped out amid the countercultural upheaval, later reemerging in droll supporting parts on stage and screen, died Feb 7 after a car crash in the Venice section of Los Angeles.
He was 91. His death was confirmed by family representative Eva Basler Demirjian, who said he was struck by two cars while crossing the street near the Pacific Resident Theater, where his wife – actress Alley Mills – was working on an upcoming production.
A police representative said Bean was pronounced dead at the scene. A master raconteur and unabashed eccentric, Bean worked as a magician, a standup comedian and a Tony-nominated actor, appearing in dozens of film, TV and stage roles over a seven-decade career.
He was a performer, director and producer (on and offBroadway), an acolyte for a post-Freudian therapy that was widely dismissed as pseudoscience, and came to call himself a “neo-celebrity,” someone who was “famous for being famous.” — Bang Showbiz