Not Careful Enough In There

Character actor Robert Prosky has died at the age of 77 following complications from heart surgery. Best remembered as desk sergeant Stan Jablonski on Hill Street Blues, other roles included the pennant game-throwing, darkness-loving Judge in The Natural, the priest that didn’t have the heart to tell Daniel Reuttiger to give it up in Rudy, Kirstie Alley’s father on Cheers and Veronica’s Closet, the station exec who gives Robin Williams his big break in Mrs. Doubtfire, daytime horror movie host Grandpa Fred in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and the evil garage owner in Christine. On stage, he originated the role of Shelly Levene in David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, winning a Tony nomination.