Jon Cypher, 1932 – 2026

Stage and TV actor Jon Cypher, 94, died on Aug. 3. Cypher’s Broadway credits were impressive, including The Night of the Iguana, Jennie, Man of La Mancha, The Great White Hope, 1776, Coco, and Big. On TV, he costarred as Chief Daniels in Hill Street Blues, Dick Maurier in Dynasty, Driscoll in the 1960s soap Our Five Daughters, Max Van Stadt in General Hospital, Dr. Donnelly in Santa Barbara, and General Craig in Major Dad; he also turned up in one-shots on countless other series from the 1950s through 2004 (his TV debut was as Prince Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander François Reginald Launcelot Herman Gregory James in 1957’s Cinderella, opposite Julie Andrews). Cypher once said that “I’ve played some historic characters in my time and I never researched them. I figured whomever I’m playing become me. For example, I played Thomas Jefferson for a year in the hit Broadway musical 1776 and I was asked once in an interview how I had researched the role and I said, ‘I looked at a nickel?’”