Charles Kimbrough is dead. The actor known from the series “Murphy Brown” was 86 years old

The news that Charles Kimbrough is dead was confirmed by the actor’s son.

Charles Kimbrough is dead

Kimbrough has performed successfully on stage for many years – for example, he was nominated for a Tony Award for the musical “Company”, and in 1988 he gained television fame with the series “Murphy Brown”, in which Candice Bergen played the title role. This production, also popular in Poland in the 1990s, remained on the air for 10 seasons and earned the actor an Emmy nomination. Kimbrough reprized his role as Jim Dial in three episodes of the remake in 2018.

Candice Bergen, Charles Kimbrough, Faith Ford and Joe Regalbuto – cast of ‘Murphy Brown’ in 2008 photo. Richard Drew/AP Photo

In interviews, the actor admitted that in his youth he played more diverse characters, but over time he began to be cast in the roles of uptight, prudish men. However, the popularity that his role in “Murphy Brown” brought him made him come to terms with this state of affairs.

Born on May 23, 1936, he loved music from his youth – especially opera. He first studied music and theater at Indiana University and later earned a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama. He moved from the Chicago area to New York City and struggled with the life of an actor until success came with Steven Sondheim’s “Company,” a musical that ran since 1970.

Kimbrough’s wife, actress Beth Howland, who played waitress Vera on the CBS sitcom “Alice” in the 1970s and 1980s, died in 2016. They married in 2002, more than a decade after his 1991 divorce from his first wife, Mary Jane (Wilson) Kimbrough, who died in 2007.