Gary Beach: Tony-winning The Producers actor dies aged 70
Actor Gary Beach has died aged 70 (Getty)
Broadway actor Gary Beach has died at the age of 70 at his home in Palm Springs, California.
His agent Steven Unger confirmed Beach died on Tuesday but no cause of death was given.
Beach, who earned three prestigious Tony nominations and one win, is survived by his husband Jeffrey Barnett.
In 1994, Beach originated the role of Lumiere in the Broadway adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, earning a Tony nomination.
In 2001, he won the Tony for Featured Actor in a Musical for the role of Roger DeBris in Mel Brooks’ The Producers.
Actor Gary Beach arrives for the Los Angeles premiere of The Producers in 2005 (Kevin Winter/Getty)
He reprised the role for the 2005 film of the musical.
Beach was also nominated for a Tony in 2004 for the his portrayal of Albin in La Cage aux Folles.
The actor also starred in Will & Grace and Queer as Folk, among other TV programmes.
Beach’s other stage credits include Les Miserables, Broadway Bash, Sweet Adeline, Something’s Afoot and Doonesbury, as well as The Moony Shapiro Songbook.
Late singer Robert Goulet and Gary Beach in 2005 in New York City (Paul Hawthorne/Getty)
The Baruch Frankel Routh Viertel Group, which produced The Producers, said in a statement: “Gary Beach, an actor of consummate skill and artistry, was a glorious human being; a gifted, generous and incredibly funny actor whose presence in a rehearsal room or on the stage lifted everyone’s spirit and inspired them to be the best they could be.
“His joyous, Tony Award winning performance as Roger DeBris will remain forever in our minds and hearts as the personification of the joyous spirit of Mel Brooks’ The Producers.”
Beach, who was born in Alexandria, Virginia, graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and dreamed of performing on Broadway.
Speaking to the Associated Press in 2001, he said: “I always wanted to be a performer, but it never occurred to me to be a television performer or a movie actor. To me, it was always Broadway.”
