‘Night Court’ actor Harry Anderson dies
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA/AP)- Police officials confirmed that actor Harry Anderson died Monday morning at a home in Asheville, N.C. He was 65.
Anderson was a three-time Emmy nominee for his role as Judge Harry T. Stone in “Night Court,” a young jurist who professed his love for singer Mel Torme, actress Jean Harlow, magic tricks and his collection of art-deco ties.
According to Asheville Police Department PIO Christina Hallingse, officers were called to the home before 8 a.m. Monday.
Hallingse said no foul play is suspected in Anderson’s death.
TMZ is reporting that Anderson’s son said the actor “passed away of natural causes.”
According to TMZ, Anderson also appeared on “Saturday Night Live” as well as “Cheers.” He also appeared on the series “Tales From The Crypt.”
TMZ also reports that Anderson starred in “Dave’s World’s,” his own sitcom, and also was a magician.
Anderson prided himself on being a magician as well as actor.
“I got into magic when I was a child,” he told The Associated Press in 1987. “Unlike most kids, I stayed with it. My high school teachers were always asking me what I was going to do. It made me what I am today — available for weekend employment, parties and bar mitzvahs.”
Anderson, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on Oct. 14, 1952. He grew up in New York and moved to Oregon when he was a teenager and said that’s where he became a hippie.
“The Shakespeare Festival at Ashland, Oregon, seemed like a good place to open a magic store,” he said. “At 18, I was ready for retirement. It didn’t last long, but I was established as the magician. I worked the streets in San Francisco and I did magic and special effects at the festival.”
A People magazine story in 2002 said Anderson disappeared from Hollywood and resurfaced as the owner of a New Orleans magic shop.
“I am richer than Davy Crockett,” Anderson said in the story. “I can settle back and do what I want to do. And what I want to do is card tricks and magic.’ That includes magic shows for corporate clients (“Fifty-five minutes with applause,” says Anderson) at $20,000 a pop.
According to the story, Anderson was disenchanted by the prospect of chasing acting roles into middle age. “I don’t understand why guys have that Don Knotts syndrome of having to be out there.”
He sold his home in Pasadena, California, and moved back to New Orleans, where he had lived in the 1970s.
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, he moved to Asheville.
Anderson is survived by two children from his first marriage to Leslie Pollack, and by his current wife Elizabeth Morgan. There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements Monday night.