Harris Yulin has died. An Emmy-winning veteran of both stage and screen, Yulin’s face will likely be recognizable to anyone who watched sufficient amounts of American TV or film from pretty much the 1970s forward: His nearly 200 credits serve as a tour of a wide swathe of entertainment across that era, whether appearing in mainstream films like Ghostbusters II, giving a scene-stealing performance in Star Trek, or going toe-to-toe with Al Pacino in Scarface. Yulin’s death today, from cardiac arrest, was confirmed by his manager. Per The Hollywood Reporter, he was 87.
Born in California in the 1930s—at least, presumably, since he was left on an orphanage’s steps, by his own account, and adopted at four months—Yulin got his start as an actor on the New York stage, appearing in numerous plays in his 20s and 30s. The ’70s saw him break into film, appearing opposite Stacy Keach and Faye Dunaway in Frank Perry’s revisionist Western Doc, in which he played a murderous Wyatt Earp. The same decade saw Yulin begin what would be a legendary run of TV guest star appearances, making early showings on programs like Kojak, Barnaby Jones, Little House On The Prairie, and more. Yulin would spend the rest of his life as a staple of TV acting: Law & Order, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Veep, Baretta, Wonder Woman, Frasier—he won the Emmy for Frasier, playing a mob boss who tangles with the Crane boys—and many others. Casting directors knew that if they wanted to bring a certain hard-eyed, world-weary quality to a single-episode character, Yulin was an easy way to do so. (His Deep Space Nine episode, the first season’s “Duet,” remains a fan favorite; Yulin was reportedly so enamored of his character, a meek clerk masquerading as a war criminal in order to bring his own government to account, that he reportedly petitioned to have the episode’s ending change so the character could survive.)
Whether appearing as the cop who (very unsuccessfully) tries to shake Tony Montana down in Scarface, or the judge who reads the Ghostbusters the riot act in Ghostbusters II, Yulin embedded his hard-nosed, quietly funny performances in the brains of whole generations of film and TV fans. He worked relentlessly, while also maintaining a career on the stage (notably on Broadway, where he appeared numerous times from the 1980s onward). He continued to work right up into the 2020s, logging appearances on Billions, Divorce, I Know This Much Is True, FBI: Most Wanted, and more. The “and more,” really, is a constant refrain of Yulin’s career; the man worked relentlessly. When asked about retirement during an interview back in 2010 (when he was already in his 70s), Yulin was clear as day: “Retiring is not a thought that I can ever entertain. You love what you do and feel lucky to be doing it, finally, lucky that other people might want to see it or help you to do it. So it’s great.”
