Michael Tolan

Michael Tolan (born Seymour Tuchow, November 27, 1925 – January 31, 2011) was an American actor.

Early life and education
The son of Morris Tuchow, Tolan was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Central High School and Wayne State University in Detroit and studied under Stella Adler and at Stanford University.

Career
Tolan's early acting experience came on radio station WXYZ in Detroit, where he was heard on The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger. He also worked with the Actors Company. In 1948, he performed in summer stock theater in Wooster, Massachusetts.

Tolan appeared primarily in stage roles in his early career, with only minor parts in films of the early 1950s. His stage roles include Romanoff and Juliet and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, his Broadway debut. His film credits included Fort Worth (1951), The Savage (1952), Hiawatha (1952), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Hour of the Gun (1967), The Lost Man (1969), John and Mary (1969), The 300 Year Weekend (1971), Talk to Me (1984) and Presumed Innocent (1990).

He acted mostly on television from the mid-1950s on, including an appearance on the 1960 CBS summer series, Diagnosis: Unknown, a role in The Doctors and the Nurses, and a continuing role as Jordan Boyle on "The Senator" segments of the anthology umbrella TV series The Bold Ones (1970–71). He appeared in three episodes of Mission:Impossible, entitled "Trial by Fury," "the Play," and "Terror." He had a recurring role on three episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as Dan Whitfield, Mary's night-school teacher & boyfriend.  He also made guest appearances on such television series as The Invaders, Mannix, Kojak, Nichols, The Outer Limits, McMillan and Wife, and Law & Order. His last known television appearance was on an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1994.

Tolan appeared in the Bob Fosse film All That Jazz (1979) as lead character Joe Gideon's cardiologist, Dr. Ballinger.

Tolan also helped found the American Place Theatre, of which he wrote:
“We wanted to attract some of the writers who wrote fine, intelligent, deep material about American life, and see if we could interest them in writing for the theater”.

Personal life
Tolan had two marriages, both of which ended in divorce; at the time of his death, he was partnered with Donna Peck, with whom he lived in Ancram, New York. He had previously married actress Rosemary Forsyth on June 28, 1966. The couple had one child and divorced in 1975.

Death
Tolan died January 31, 2011 at a Hudson, New York, hospital from kidney failure.

Selected filmography

The Enforcer (1951) - James (Duke) Malloy
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) - Leo Daly 
Fort Worth (1951) - Mort Springer 
The People Against O'Hara (1951) - Vincent Korvac (uncredited)
The Savage (1952) - Long Mane
Hiawatha (1952) - Neyadji
Julius Caesar (1953) - Officer to Octavius
Second Chance (1953) - Antonio (uncredited)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) - Lazarus
Roseanna (1967) - Elmer B. Kafka
Hour of the Gun (1967) - Pete Spence
Journey into Darkness (1968) - Craig Miller (episode 'Paper Dolls')
The Lost Man (1969) - Insp. Carl Hamilton
John and Mary (1969) - James
The 300 Year Weekend (1971) - Dr. Marshall
All That Jazz (1979) - Dr. Ballinger
Talk to Me (1984) - Dr. Ronald Webster
Presumed Innocent (1990) - Mr. Polhemus
Perfect Stranger (2007) - Judge (final film role)

References

External links

Category:1925 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:Male actors from Detroit
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Wayne State University alumni
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:People from Hudson, New York
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Deaths from kidney failure
Category:20th-century American male actors