Monday, January 11, 2016

Pat Harrington - A More Than "Super" Guy ...

Pat Harrington and fellow "One Day at a Time" cast
Valerie Bertinelli, series star Bonnie Franklin and
Mackenzie Phillips.

I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some pretty remarkable people over the years -- and among them was the wonderful Pat Harrington. I got to know Pat from my work on the television series One Day at a Time. Of course he was the actor who played the usually hilarious role of Schneider, the builder "super," in an Indianapolis apartment building where Bonnie Franklin (as newly divorced Ann Romano) and her family lived. Pat won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy for his role on the long running (1975 - 1989) CBS series.

I was sorry to learn that Pat died last week in Los Angeles from complications of Alzheimer's after a fall.

In March 1991, Pat and I reunited for a chat on our live,Beverly Hills coffee shop-based chat show. There isn't much of an opportunity anymore for actors to talk in detail and length about their lives, their careers and the roles that made them famous. I'm forever grateful to my longtime pal Dudley Johnson for creating and producing that little show. I'm even more grateful when I realize how fortunate we were -- and are to have this content and to be able to share it.

BL