Suddenly, I’m leaving for NYC in two days. I have a lot to do in that time and I lost a few days earlier in the week because I was sick. So, it’s crunch time here at the cottage.
But today, I’d like to take a moment to mourn our friend, Peter Scolari, who passed away from cancer at the age of 66 – much too young. I met him and immediately liked him, but Don was the one who really knew him. In 2002, they were in a production of The Foreigner at the Berkshire Theater Festival. I saw it. It was wildly funny and the lead role of Charlie Baker was absolutely brilliantly done by Peter. Also in the cast was the late, great Betsy Palmer. I met Peter on the green in front of the theater where he was playing with his kids. He was a lovely, funny, and kind man. He was also a gloriously talented actor. Don ran into him in NYC over the years and they always had a great time catching up with each other.
But let me share Don’s Facebook post about Peter:
I was honored to work with Peter Scolari in 2002. We were doing The Foreigner at Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge. I got to play Froggy to his Charlie Baker. Peter was a Buster Keaton fan. As am I. He named a child of his Keaton to honor him. That kind of a fan. Well, we both knew that Buster had played the same old theatre years ago, and there were these very old wooden steps leading up to the stage which we had to use to enter. Peter and I opened the show and in the dark each night, we took a silent pause at the bottom of those old wooden steps, for we knew they were the very same ones HE had walked up. Sounds corny, but we were dead serious. Call it an actor’s prayer. Every show. Peter was the funniest, kindest, most gifted actor I ever worked with. I ran into him in Manhattan years later, and he told me he thought I was like Abraham Lincoln. I’m very sad today, and humbled, and grateful.
Oh, how he’ll be missed. Don and I talked about him often. In fact, we saw him in a very funny episode of King of Queens a couple of weeks ago. As always, Don spoke of what a wonderful actor and human being he was. And that Peter was an amazing juggler, and he always juggled on his rehearsal breaks.
He and Tom Hanks were great friends from the day they started work on Bosom Buddies until his death.
I’m thinking of Peter today.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
