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Bert Remsen

Bert Remsen built the kind of career that rewards anyone who pays attention to the edges of the frame. Born in Glen Cove, New York, on February 25, 1925, he became a familiar American character actor whose work moved easily between film and television. He also spent an important stretch behind the camera as a casting director and casting supervisor. Before that screen career took shape, Remsen served aboard the destroyer USS Laffey during World War II. At the Battle of Okinawa, the ship endured an 80-minute attack by 22 Japanese kamikaze planes on April 16, 1945. Remsen suffered burns but recovered, returned to duty and survived the battle. An injury sustained on a television set later led him away from acting and into casting. From 1966 to 1974, he worked on 31 television series or television movies, while gradually resuming screen roles. The turning point came with Brewster McCloud in 1970: Remsen was hired as its casting director, and director Robert Altman persuaded him to take a small part in the film. That appearance began a particularly rich run with Altman. Remsen went on to play character roles in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, California Split, Nashville, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson and A Wedding. His wider filmography included Carny, Inside Moves, The Sting II, Places in the Heart, Code of Silence, TerrorVision, Miss Firecracker and Only the Lonely. Television gave him room for recurring work as well. He was a regular on Gibbsville and played Mario the cook during the first season of It’s a Living. He also appeared on Dallas as Harrison “Dandy” Dandridge and portrayed a judge in the pilot of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Remsen died in 1999. His final film, The Sky Is Falling, was released posthumously in 2000, closing a career that connected acting and casting while leaving a long trail of distinctive supporting parts.