I was saddened to hear of the death at 87 of actor George Segal. The headlines tonight tout his appearances on the TV shows “The Goldbergs” and “Just Shoot Me,” but the man used to be a bona fide movie star and had a six-decade career.
He starred in one of my all-time favorites, “The Hot Rock,” with Robert Redford, Ron Liebman, Zero Mostel, and Paul Sand. Segal co-starred with Rod Steiger in “No Way To Treat A Lady,” starred in Carl Reiner’s “Where’s Poppa,” played the romantic lead opposite Barbra Streisand in “The Owl and the Pussycat,” and was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar for “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?”
He was a leading man in such 1970s movies as “A Touch of Class,” “Fun With Dick and Jane,” and with Elliott Gould in one of the better movies about poker and gamblers, “California Split.”
Segal also made regular talk show appearances with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and other hosts, often bringing along his banjo.
For the Picture Of The Day, here is Segal with the Smothers Brothers on their CBS show in 1967 performing Phil Ochs’ anti-Vietnam War song, “Draft Dodger Rag”…