CHICAGO– Mike Nussbaum, known as the oldest professional actor in America with a prolific stage career and roles in films such as “Field of Dreams” and “Men in Black,” has died. He was 99.
He died of old age at his home in Chicago on Saturday, just days before his 100th birthday, his daughter, Karen Nussbaum, told The Associated Press.
“He was a good father and a good man who raised us to care for other people, to respect other people and to care about justice,” she said.
Mike Nussbaum has been recognized several times in recent years by the Actor's Equity Association as the nation's oldest professional actor. When asked about his status as a working multi-year-old over the years, Nussbaum said he simply enjoyed the work.
“I am gifted and fortunate to still be able to do what I enjoy most in life,” he told WBEZ Chicago in 2019 when he was 94 years old. “As long as I can do it, I will do it.”
Nussbaum was born in December 1923 in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and first performed in summer camps. He didn't start acting full-time until he was in his 40s, working as an exterminator for a while. He received his Equity card in the 1970s.
Nussbaum spent more than 50 years on stages in the Chicago area, including at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He played Shylock in a 2005 production of 'The Merchant of Venice' and Gremio in 'The Taming of the Shrew', among many other roles.
In 1984, he won a Drama Desk Award for his role in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, which won a Pulitzer Prize that same year. Nussbaum has often collaborated with Mamet over the years.
Nussbaum performed into his 90s, including a 2017 role as Albert Einstein in the play “Relativity” at the Northlight Theater in suburban Skokie, where he also briefly served as artistic director.
“His genius was that you couldn't tell he was acting,” says BJ Jones, a longtime friend and colleague who is currently artistic director at Northlight. “His level of truth was unparalleled. You never saw him sweat. He tried not to draw attention to himself. ”
Although primarily a stage actor, his credits include a school principal in “Field of Dreams” and in “Men in Black” as Gentle Rosenberg, whose head opens during a pivotal scene to reveal a small alien creature.
A private funeral service is planned. A public memorial service will take place next year.