Who Knows What Coronary Disease Lurks in the Hearts of Men...

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White Shadow Falls

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Jefferson Did not Live

(Props to Phil)

Ken Howard, best remembered as being thisclose to being Supreme Court Justice Peyton Cabot Harrison III on The West Wing, has died at the age of 71. An accomplished Broadway star, Reeves appeared in Promises, Promises with Jerry Orbach, played Thomas Jefferson in 1776 – a role he reprised in the movie, and won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor for Child's Play, a dramatic departure from the original text about a killer doll. Looking like a stuffy old white guy even in his 30s also led to other presidential parts on stage including the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the role of Warren G. Harding in Camping with Henry and Tom and Tip O’Neill in the one-man show According to Tip. He parlayed this into the role of Ken Reeves, a former Chicago Bull in the days when there were white players in the NBA, who takes over as head basketball coach in South Central LA’s Carver High School in The White Shadow, a show ahead of its time in its primarily minority cast, discussion of drug use, STDs, sexual orientation, prostitution, gambling and inner city violence, and frequent failure to come up with pat solutions after 42 minutes. Somehow all of that didn’t strike a chord with viewers and the show lasted only 3 seasons, but it set the stage for realistic dramas like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. Other roles included Jill Hennessey’s ex-cop dad on Crossing Jordan, his Emmy-winning turn as Little Edie's father on Grey Gardens, cuckolded QB Dave Walecki on the MST3Ked TV-movie Superdome, Michael Scott’s possibly decapitated predecessor Ed Truck on The Office, and Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper on 30 Rock.