Edward Herrmann

The Aristocrat of the Screen

Edward Herrmann stood nearly six feet six inches tall and had a voice reminiscent of velvet or aged mahogany. He was not the kind of actor who went for easy applause from young audiences on the red carpet. Yet his mere presence on screen commanded a respect that few peers of his generation could match without resorting to scenery-chewing.

In 1976 he won a Tony Award for his work in the play Mrs. Warren’s Profession. That recognition on the New York stage opened the doors of recording studios for good. Still, he always preferred the pause of theater to the rush of big-budget film shoots.

His voice was his best tool.

He played President Franklin D. Roosevelt in several productions, such as the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin (1976). He captured the politician's physical vulnerability without losing an ounce of authority. He did it with a naturalness that avoided caricature or the cheap imitation found in textbooks.

In 1987 he stepped away from the presidential offices to step into the skin of Max in The Lost Boys. It was an unusual role in his career because it blended teen horror with his signature East Coast gentleman elegance. That vampire movie showed he could be frightening without raising his voice or mussing his hair.

The Patriarch of Connecticut

Starting in 2000, he played the role that would give him a second career in front of a global audience. Richard Gilmore was a rigid (but deeply tender) businessman on Gilmore Girls. Over seven seasons, he embodied the values of an upper class on the brink of extinction.

Television gave him the security that the movies denied him.

He worked with a technical precision that amazed cinematographers. Herrmann knew exactly where the light was and how to move his long hands so he wouldn't block his co-stars. In 1994 he played Macaulay Culkin's father in Richie Rich, bringing an unusual dignity to a fast-food kids' comedy.

But his life away from the spotlight was much quieter than that of his wealthy characters. He lived on a farm in New York State and spent his free time restoring classic cars from the 1920s and 1930s. He spent much of his earnings keeping alive the engine mechanics that almost no one knew how to repair anymore.

The Voice That Told the Story

For decades, he narrated hundreds of documentaries for the History Channel. His diction was so clean that producers called him whenever they needed to explain complex events of World War II. He recorded his voiceovers standing up and almost never had to repeat a take because of a pronunciation mistake.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2014 he worked on the film The Town That Dreaded Sundown shortly before his health irreversibly declined. He had brain cancer, which he kept secret from almost everyone in show business. He died on December 31, 2014 at a hospital in New York at the age of 71.

His collection of classic cars included a 1929 Packard that won several awards at elegance contests. In 2016, the production of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life used a painting of his face to pay tribute to him on the set. The portrait stood more than six feet tall.