Actor Paxton Whitehead dead at 85

Veteran character actor Paxton Whitehead, who was nominated for a Tony for his performance in “Camelot,” died last Friday. He was 85.

His son Charles told The Hollywood Reporter that he died at a hospital in Virginia.

Whitehead’s most memorable role came in the 1986 hit film “Back To School,” as Dr. Phillip Barbay, the stuffy professor who has to deal with Thornton Melon, played by Rodney Dangerfield as a businessman who attempts to earn his college degree.

He spent most of his early career on the stage, signing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1950s.

Whitehead also served as artistic director of the Shaw Festival, one of the largest repertory theater companies, which originally only featured shows written by George Bernard Shaw.

For his work as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of “Camelot” Whitehead received a Tony nomination.

Whitehead was a familiar face for TV fans, appearing on hit shows including “3rd Rock From The Sun,” “Frasier,” “Friends,” The West Wing,” and “The Drew Carey Show.”

In 2017, Whitehead spoke about the differences in acting in movies, TV and stage.

“Theatre is about projection and into the size of the theatre,” he said. “Film is not about projection at all. It’s about internalism and what you’re thinking – it’s minimalist. Nowadays a lot of television is actually filmed. And then there was the different kind of thing when it was done with four cameras on videotape.

“That was more like theatre because it was one directional – all the cameras were in front of you on a staged set. And although they angled in, you were still looking as if you were looking at a proscenium. It was like doing a small one-act play without the projection required for a Broadway house or a large scale theatre like Westport.”

Whitehead is survived by a son and daughter.