Character actor Cliff Emmich has died at the age of 85. Emmich’s rep Steve Stevens told The Hollywood Reporter that Emmich succumbed to a long battle with lung cancer at his Valley Village home in Los Angeles on Monday. Out of all the roles the character actor had to his name, Emmich is probably best known for playing Chicago, the driver of the Cadillac sedan Rip Torn’s honky tonk singer Maury Dann rode in the back seat of in the 1973 movie Payday. He also made appearances in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and Halloween II (1981). He played a security guard in both of these films.
Character Actor Cliff Emmich’s Notable Movie and TV Roles
Cliff Emmich was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Dec. 13, 1936. His father, a car salesman, sold luxury vehicles to actors such as Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, and Ozzie Nelson. After graduating from John Muir High School in Pasadena and serving in the U.S. Air Force, Emmich studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He went on to tour with American Repertory Players and did summer stock at the Pink Garter Theatre in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Emmich made his film debut in 1969 in Norman Jewison’s Gaily, Gaily. Later he appeared in the two-part Happy Days episode “Fonzie’s Funeral” as the counterfeiter known as “The Candy Man.” One of Emmich’s favorite roles was in an episode of Little House on the Prairie in which he played an overweight father whose daughter is ashamed of him. Little House star Michael Landon wrote this episode with Emmich in mind. The Daily Beast recalls a 1978 interview with Emmich regarding the role. He said in the interview, “Fat guys usually get cast as bad guys. I’ve been the heavy ‘heavy’ in Police Woman, Starsky and Hutch, and Charlie’s Angels. This is my first chance to portray a nice man.”
Character actor Cliff Emmich has joined a long list of actors we’ve lost this year, including Louise Fletcher and fellow character actor Mike Hagerty.
