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Harve Presnell and Tammy Grimes in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,’’ which ran on Broadway. (Leo Friedman/File 1963) |
Harve Presnell, 75, actor in ‘Fargo’ and ‘Molly Brown’
NEW YORK - Harve Presnell, whose booming baritone graced such Broadway musicals as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown’’ and “Annie,’’ died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 75.
Although best known for his roles in musical theater, Mr. Presnell also is remembered as William H. Macy’s father-in-law in the Coen brothers’ 1996 film “Fargo.’’
Among his other movies were “When the Boys Meet the Girls’’ (1965), “The Glory Guys’’ (1965), and “Paint Your Wagon’’ (1969), as well as the TV series “The Pretender’’ (1997-2000).
But it was in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown’’ (1960) that the rugged, 6-foot-4 actor was first noticed by Broadway audiences. In the Meredith Willson musical, he played lucky mining prospector “Leadville’’ Johnny Brown opposite Tammy Grimes’s feisty Molly. Mr. Presnell repeated his role in the 1964 film version, which starred Debbie Reynolds as the buoyant title character.
Mr. Presnell also played the dashing Rhett Butler in a musical version of “Gone with the Wind’’ (adapted by Horton Foote and with a score by Harold Rome) that was seen in London in 1972.
For a good part of his career, Mr. Presnell portrayed the wealthy, follicle-challenged Daddy Warbucks in various incarnations of “Annie.’’ The actor was first offered the role in a tour of “Annie’’ and thought the title was a show business abbreviation for “Annie, Get Your Gun,’’ the musical in which he had once played sharpshooter Frank Butler.
Then he attended “Annie’’ and saw a bald, older man instead of a dashing, romantic lead.
It was a big shock, he said in an interview in 1993: “I thought, ‘What’s this? I’m a leading man!’ ’’
But the reality was good for him, Mr. Presnell said, adding: “It was a question of saying, ‘I’m no longer Frank Butler or Rhett Butler or ‘Leadville’ Johnny Brown. And they were paying good money.’’
After Mr. Presnell did the two-year “Annie’’ tour (1979-81) he went into “Annie’’ on Broadway and was still Daddy Warbucks on closing night, Jan. 2, 1983, in New York.
The actor was born George Harvey Presnell in Modesto, Calif. He went to the University of Southern California on a sports scholarship. After three weeks, the head of the music school heard him sing and offered him the same scholarship for music. He soon quit school and spent three seasons singing in Europe.
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