STAGE ACTOR HIGGINS DIES

STAGE ACTOR HIGGINS DIES

American stage actor MICHAEL HIGGINS has died of heart failure at the age of 88.
Higgins passed away on 5 November (08) at Beth Israel Hospital in his home of Manhattan, New York.
Best known for his role in the 1974 original Broadway production of Equus, Higgins played Frank Strang, the father of the disturbed youth who blinds horses, alongside Anthony Hopkins in the show.
Before rising to stardom as a stage actor, Higgins served in World War II, with the Army in Italy, earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
After the war, he made his Broadway debut in the 1946 production of Antigone.
His other Broadway credits include the 1951 production of Romeo and Juliet, The Lark in 1955, and 1973's The Iceman Cometh, co-starring James Earl Jones.
He also received two Obie Awards - the Off Broadway theatre award presented annually by New York newspaper The Village Voice - for his roles in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and David Mamet's Reunion.
His film credits include 1975's The Stepford Wives, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, in 1979, and 1981 movie Fort Apache, the Bronx.
He is survived by his wife, the former Elizabeth Lee Goodwin, a daughter named Deirdre, two sons Sean and Christopher, two brothers, two sisters and four grandchildren.