Dick Kallman

Dick Kallman (July 7, 1933 – February 22, 1980) was an American actor.

For producer and radio host Dick Kollmar (1910–1971), see Dorothy Kilgallen.
Dick Kallman
Kallman with Linda Foster in Hank, 1965
Born(1933-07-07)July 7, 1933
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 22, 1980(1980-02-22) (aged 46)
Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of deathGunshot Wound
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Partner(s)Stephen Szladek
(19??-1980, their murders)

Early life

Kallman was born in Brooklyn in New York City, into wealth. His father, Alvan Kallman, a former barnstorming pilot, was owner of the Savoy-Plaza Hotel in New York City, The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in New Hampshire, and the St. Johns Hotel in Havana.[1][2] Kallman's mother, Zara Whitman Kallman, had been a Broadway actress.[3]

Career

After working on the New York stage where he won a Theater World Award for his performance in the 1951 Broadway musical Seventeen,[4] Kallman starred in the title role of the 1965–1966 television sitcom Hank. He returned to Broadway, taking over the leading role in the musical Half a Sixpence.[5] As a singer, he released several albums of pop standards, including Hits & the Misses and Speak Softly, and in conjunction with his TV series, Hank Sings and Dick Kallman Drops in as 'Hank'. He performed one of his songs on an episode of Hullabaloo.[6]

Kallman played non-recurring roles in TV series such as The Jack Benny Show, Bachelor Father and Medical Center. He also acted in episodes 110 and 111 of Batman, playing Little Louie Groovy, a takeoff on record producer Phil Spector. Groovy is a victim of a robbery at his apartment by the team of Catwoman and The Joker.

Personal life

Kallman had from youth exhibited an appreciation of fine antique furnishings and an acumen for business.[1] Kallman formed a music publishing company in 1966.[3] By the late 1970s, he had retired from show business and was a wealthy antiques and art dealer and living with Stephen Szladek, his life partner, in a Manhattan apartment.

Kallman and Szladek were murdered by three intruders in 1980 during a robbery of the art, antiques and jewelry in their apartment.[7][8][9] The killers later were caught and convicted.[8]

References
  1. "Better To Have Had and Lost Than Never to Have Had at All". El Paso Herald-Post. El Paso. December 11, 1965. p. 20. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  2. "Alvan E. Kallman, 62, Dies". New York Times. September 4, 1964. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  3. "Notes About NBC Television Shows". Biddeford-Saco Journal. Biddeford-Saco, Maine. June 11, 1966. p. 12. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  4. Naden, Corinne J. The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943-1965 Scarecrow Press, 2011 p 205
  5. Dick Kallman, 1966 - NYPL Digital Collections
  6. Dick Kallman discography at Discogs
  7. "Dick Kallman". NNDB (Notable Names Database). Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  8. Anonymous (July 8, 2010). "The life and death (murder) of closeted gay actor Dick Kallman". Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  9. J. D. Doyle (October 2010). "October 2010 – Script". Queer Music Heritage. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
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