Harvey Atkin – who lent his recognizable face and voice to a slew of television, film and commercial work – died of cancer in Toronto on July 18. He was 74.
Famous for his glasses, nose and mustache combination, Atkin was perhaps best known as a regular on Law & Order, in which he played Judge Alan Ridenour, and Cagney & Lacey, where he played Staff Sergeant Ronald Coleman, a deskman at the fictional 14th precinct who bet on anything.
He commuted from Toronto to Los Angeles for work.
His breakout role was as clueless camp director Morty Melnick in the 1979 comedy Meatballs, opposite Bill Murray. Atkin’s performance earned him a Genie nomination.
He was solidly in demand as a voice actor on such animated TV shows as Jacob Two-Two, The Ripping Friends and several Super Mario Bros. episodes.
His was the distinctive voice behind Leon’s Furniture TV commercials and won three Clio Awards for his radio and television voice-overs.
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The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) lists 126 credits for the busy actor, including roles in Ticket to Heaven, Beetlejuice, Silver Streak, Atlantic City and Barney’s Version.
“All I want is to work,” Atkin said in a 1986 interview. “I still find it almost impossible to say no to a gig.”
If he was ever tempted to complain about having too much on his plate, Atkin said he’d remember something his wife Celia had told him: “Don’t come to me 20 years from now and say you wished you had done it.”
Elliot Harvey Atkin was born in Toronto on Dec. 18, 1942, to Murray Atkin, who was in the construction business, and Ida Atkin (née Garshon). He was an older brother to three sisters. Harvey was persuaded to join his high school’s drama club and won a best actor award at a local drama festival in his first year of his involvement, according to IMDB.
After high school, Atkin went into the family business and later earned a real estate license.
“To be honest, I was doing just great,” he told the Toledo Blade in 1986. “But it wasn’t really satisfying. I always had the idea that I’d like to try acting.”
Atkin figured the reason his career took off was because he able to do many accents – Russian, Italian, French – that he picked up in the construction business. He had a tape library of English spoken with various accents and reached for the one he needed when he had to an ethnic character.
He spoke Yiddish well, his sister, Marsha Zinberg, told The CJN, and he emceed many Jewish charitable events, including for State of Israel Bonds and the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, of which his late father-in-law, Manley Tessler, was an early supporter.
He made a guest appearance in 2010 as a rabbi on the CBC Television series 18 to Life.
In addition to earning a pilot’s license at a young age, “he had a fantastic mechanical ability,” Zinberg noted. “He could drive anything, fix anything, build anything. There weren’t any of his friends or acquaintances who needed a plumber, electrician or carpenter. If they needed something fixed, they called Harvey.”
Atkin is survived by his wife of 54 years, Celia, children Lisa and Danny, three sisters and five grandchildren.
