'Men In Black' actor Mike Nussbaum dies just six days before his 100th birthday
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Mike Nussbaum, recognized for his roles in 'Men in Black' and 'Field of Dreams,' died at the age of 99. According to the Associated Press, Nussbaum was reportedly the oldest professional working actor in the US.
The actor's daughter, Karen said that her father died of natural causes in his Chicago home, just six days before his 100th birthday.
“He was a good father and a good man who raised us to care about other people and respect other people and care about justice,” Karen told the outlet.
Nussbaum received a Lifetime Achievement Award
Nussbaum, a respected stage and screen actor and director, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the League of Chicago Theaters in 2019. At that time, he was recognized as the oldest working member of Actors’ Equity.
Born as Myron Nussbaum in 1923 and raised in Chicago, the actor didn't venture into acting until his 40s. Before that, during World War II, he served as a teletype operator under then-General Dwight Eisenhower.
Before pursuing acting, Nussbaum worked in his family’s exterminating business.
Nussbaum frequently collaborated with the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, 76. He notably portrayed the aging salesman George Aaronow in the original Broadway production of 'Glengarry Glen Ross' in 1984.
Some of Nussbaum's notable works
His stage credits encompassed Broadway productions such as 'The House of the Blue Leaves' and 'Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?'. Nussbaum also took on notable roles in Mamet’s play 'Relativity,' portraying Albert Einstein in 2017.
Furthermore, he played Shylock in a Chicago Shakespeare Theater production of 'The Merchant of Venice' in 2005 and participated in a production of 'Hamlet' at the age of 95.
On-screen, Nussbaum portrayed book publisher Bob Drimmer in 'Fatal Attraction' (1987), a school principal in 'Field of Dreams' (1989), and an alien jeweler in 'Men in Black' (1997), whose head is famously shown opening to reveal a small alien creature.
His television appearances included shows like 'The X-Files' and 'The Equalizer.'
Nussbaum found 'fame and glory' to be 'overwhelming'
“I think that being an actor in Chicago, over a number of years, is the most satisfying life I could imagine,” Nussbaum told the Sun-Times in 2019.
He went on to say that he found “the desire for fame and glory” to be “overwhelming” in New York and LA. “Although I had some success in both cities, I decided my life was more balanced here. I enjoy getting on the bus to go downtown and have someone come up and say, 'I loved you in such-and-such.’”
He also said he enjoyed working well into his 90s. “I am gifted and lucky to still be able to do the thing that is the most fun for me in life,” he told WBEZ Chicago in 2019 when he was 94. “As long as I can do it, I will.”
Artistic director of Northlight Theatre pays tribute
“It’s the end of an era, the end of the Chicago school of acting,” BJ Jones, the artistic director of Northlight Theatre, and frequent collaborator with Nussbaum, told the Chicago Sun-Times about Nussbaum’s death.
“He opened a lot of doors for so many actors here. He loved nothing more than to sit in his dressing room area and absorb the energy of the next generation of actors around him.”
Jones mentioned that he visited Nussbaum, a friend of 50 years, on Tuesday, December 19. “He said he was bored. Hilarious,” Jones remarked. “But he was ready to go.”
Nussbaum was married to his first wife, Annette Brenner, for 56 years, from 1949 until she died in 2003. Together they had three kids, Jack, labor leader Karen and playwright/novelist Susan, who died in 2022 at age 68 from complications of pneumonia.
Nussbaum was married to his second wife, Julie Brudlos, from 2004 until his passing. He is survived by Brudlos, his children Jack and Karen, and seven grandchildren.
