Friday, November 22, 2024

Alan Rachins dead at 82: Actor starred on LA Law and Dharma & Greg

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Alan Rachins, the beloved TV star of such hit series as LA Law and Dharma & Greg, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 82. 

He succumbed to heart failure while asleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Saturday morning, his widow Joanna Frank told The Hollywood Reporter.

Rachins became a household name in the 1980s and 1990s LA Law, in which he played the rich, tough-as-nails, philandering attorney Douglas Brackman. 

In a switch that showed his range, he also played a marijuana-smoking hippie with a fondness for conspiracy theories on the sitcom Dharma & Greg from 1997 to 2002.

He also enjoyed a varied stage career, including a run in the original off-Broadway production of the boundary-breaking revue Oh! Calcutta.

Alan Rachins, the beloved TV star of such hit series as LA Law and Dharma & Greg, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 82; pictured on LA Law

Rachins was born in 1942 to a Jewish family in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up under the thumb of what he described as a ‘domineering father.’

Arts and entertainment became an escape valve for young Rachins, who was particularly inspired by the 1955 picture Rebel Without A Cause.

‘I didn’t get to express myself around him and I guess I saw this as a means of being able to express myself,’ Rachins once told New Jersey Stage.

‘And when I saw Rebel Without A Cause, which was a movie I saw with my father when I was eleven – James Dean, at one point in that movie, yelled at his father. And it all came together for me. Somehow, this was a way to just completely express everything that’s inside of you that’s been bottled up.’

Although he enrolled at the prestigious Wharton business school at the University Of Pennsylvania, he ultimately dropped out and pursued a career in acting.

His early working years revolved around the New York stage – including Oh! Calcutta, the scandalous revue created by the English writer Kenneth Tynan, a free speech crusader who was one of the first people to say ‘f***’ on British television.

Rachins featured in the original 1969 off-Broadway production, whose sexual frankness and frequent nudity made it a touchstone of the counterculture.

He took a years-long hiatus from acting to focus on writing, selling scripts to such memorable 1980s shows as Knight Rider and Hill street Blues.

He succumbed to heart failure while asleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Saturday morning, his widow Joanna Frank said; they are pictured in 1988

He succumbed to heart failure while asleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Saturday morning, his widow Joanna Frank said; they are pictured in 1988

In a switch that showed his range, he also played a marijuana-smoking hippie with a fondness for conspiracy theories on Dharma & Greg; pictured on the show with Mimi Kennedy

In a switch that showed his range, he also played a marijuana-smoking hippie with a fondness for conspiracy theories on Dharma & Greg; pictured on the show with Mimi Kennedy

Corbin Bersen, Rachins, Steven Eckholdt, Michael Tucker, Wendie Malick, Larry Drake, alan Rosenberg, Jill Eikenberry, Richard Dysart, Debi Mazar and Blair Underwood seen on LA Law

Corbin Bersen, Rachins, Steven Eckholdt, Michael Tucker, Wendie Malick, Larry Drake, alan Rosenberg, Jill Eikenberry, Richard Dysart, Debi Mazar and Blair Underwood seen on LA Law

Larry Drake, John Spencer, Susan Ruttan, Rachins, Sheila Kelley, Harry Hamlin, Blair Underwood, Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry pictgured for LA Law

Larry Drake, John Spencer, Susan Ruttan, Rachins, Sheila Kelley, Harry Hamlin, Blair Underwood, Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry pictgured for LA Law

However, in 1985, Rachins made a roaring comeback to acting with the independent romantic comedy Always, which also featured his wife Joanna Frank. 

One year later, he landed the role that made him a household name – the ruthless and sexually insatiable lawyer Douglas Brackman on LA Law, which was co-created by his brother-in-law Stephen Bochco.

The legal drama was a smash hit, with a cast featuring such names as Harry Hamlin, Jill Eikenberry – and Joanna Frank in a recurring role as Brackman’s ex-wife.

Rachins won the hearts of fans for his charismatic performance as Brackman, who often injected humor into the plotlines with slapstick gags.

‘In the pilot episode, there was nothing of the more flamboyant or bizarre side of Douglas; he was going to be the hard-line office manager, the penny pincher,’ Rachins told the New York Times in 1990. ‘It was kind of limited, and I didn’t know where it was going. But quickly it developed a lot more color and flamboyance.’

‘Alan does comedy so well, it’s one of his strengths that we write to,’ the show’s executive producer David E. Kelley explained. 

He was able to give even fuller vent to his comedic abilities when he played a cantankerous, aging former hippie on the sitcom Dharma & Greg.

The show was an opposites-attract comedy about a flower child named Dharma (Jenna Elfman) married to straitlaced lawyer Greg (Thomas Gibson).

Rachins also guest-starred in a wide variety of TV series, including The Golden Girls (pictured with Rue McClanahan), Rugrats, Grey's Anatomy, Rizzoli & Isles, NCIS and Young Sheldon

Rachins also guest-starred in a wide variety of TV series, including The Golden Girls (pictured with Rue McClanahan), Rugrats, Grey’s Anatomy, Rizzoli & Isles, NCIS and Young Sheldon

His occasional movie roles included the hardboiled strip show director Tony Moss in the legendary 1996 flop Showgirls starring Elizabeth Berkley (right)

His occasional movie roles included the hardboiled strip show director Tony Moss in the legendary 1996 flop Showgirls starring Elizabeth Berkley (right)

He was married to Joanna Frank from 1978 until his death this Saturday, and he is survived by his widow and their son Robert; pictured with his wife in 2009

He was married to Joanna Frank from 1978 until his death this Saturday, and he is survived by his widow and their son Robert; pictured with his wife in 2009

Rachins featured on the series as Dharma’s father Larry, a 1960s leftie with a propensity to get caught up in conspiracy theories. 

He reflected later that ‘I love the idea of playing different characters and I wouldn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing all of the time. That’s one of the great things about Dharma & Greg, it really allowed me to do something different.’

Rachins also guest-starred in a wide variety of TV series, including The Golden Girls, Rugrats, Grey’s Anatomy, Rizzoli & Isles, NCIS, American Dad! and Young Sheldon.

His occasional movie roles included the hardboiled strip show director Tony Moss in the legendary 1996 flop Showgirls starring Elizabeth Berkley. 

He was married to Joanna Frank from 1978 until his death this Saturday, and he is survived by his widow and their son Robert. 

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