Veteran character actor Philip Bosco, who won a Tony Award in 1989 for “Lend Me a Tenor” as an opera impresario and was nominated five other times, died Monday, according to his grandson, Luke Bosco. He was 88.
Bosco received his first Tony nomination for “Rape of the Belt” in 1960. His other nominations were for “Heartbreak House,” “You Never Can Tell,” “Moon Over Buffalo” and “Twelve Angry Men.”
Bosco also appeared in “A Man for All Seasons,” “King Lear,” “The Crucible,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” “An Inspector Calls,” “The Heiress, ” Twelfth Night” and “Copenhagen.” He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1998.
Luke Bosco wrote in a Facebook post: “My beloved grandfather, an indomitable force in the theater and a man of goodness beyond measure, passed away yesterday evening. We will not soon forget your grace, your courage, your resolute will, or the love which you found so easily all around you. You are my hero and a hero to so many other young actors across the generations that strive for greatness not for glory’s sake, but for the love of the art. And let’s not forget your irresistible urge to crack a joke in any setting. I never knew a man that could congratulate and taunt his fellow nominees in a single breath. You will be dearly missed.”
In feature films, Bosco starred in Tamara Jenkins’ “The Savages” as the estranged father of Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s characters. He portrayed the boss who fired Sigourney Weaver’s character and hires Melanie Griffith’s character at the end of “Working Girl.” His television work included a Daytime Emmy Award in 1988 for his appearance in the ABC Afterschool Special “Read Between The Lines”and he was a series regular on FX’s “Damages.”
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Other feature credits included “A Lovely Way to Die,” “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “Three Men and a Baby,” “The First Wives Club” and “Wonder Boys.”
Bosco was born in Jersey City and attended the Catholic University of America. He married Nancy Ann Dunkle in 1957. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four daughters, Celia, Lisa Bosco-Tafro, Diane Bosco and Jennifer Bosco; three sons, Philip, Christopher and John; two brothers, Donald and David; and 15 grandchildren.
