Peter Haskell (1934-2010), actor and director, died in his sleep of natural causes at home in Northridge, CA on April 12. He was 75.
The Boston native was a graduate of Harvard. After appearing off-Broadway in The Love Nest with James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland, Haskell left for Hollywood and pursued a successful career, particularly in television where he amassed over 100 credits, including soap operas (especially Ryan’s Hope, as Hollis Kirkland III), episodics, movies of the week and leading roles on Bracken’s World (as Kevin Grant) and Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II (as Charles Estep). He also appeared in a number of feature films. His final on-camera appearance was in 2009 on the final episode of ER.
Active in the Los Angeles theatre community, he was the current vice-president and treasurer of Theatre East, where he had been regularly writing, directing, performing and teaching a class. It was a company he supported for 40 years; he was referred to by one member of the group as “the heart and soul” of the company.
Among Haskell’s local credits are directing Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession at the Court Theatre and Kataki by Shimon Wincelberg at McCadden Place Theatre. At Theatre East he directed Mark on Society by Leif Gantvoort, Back in the Day by Robert Salvador Lopez and starred in One Step Over by David Burton Levin and Leash on Society by Vince McKewin.
He also produced a one-act festival 7 x 7.
He is survived by his wife Cricket and his children Audra and Jason. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at The MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood, CA 90029 on Tuesday, June 15 at 7 pm. A short play he wrote, The Wake (not to be confused with the play by Lisa Kron), will be performed at his memorial.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made at the request of his family in Peter Haskell’s memory to Theatre East, 12400 Ventura Blvd. #377, Studio City, CA 91604.
