George Gaynes, known for his role as Commandant Lassard on the Police Academy films and as Henry Warnimont on the TV series Punky Brewster, has died at the age of 98.
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Sadly, news comes today that the actor has died in North Bend, Washington at 98 years old.
His death was confirmed to the New York Times by his daughter, Iya Garnes Folcone Brown.
Gaynes appeared on hundreds of episodes of sitcoms and TV dramas. Those were his two most prominent roles, although Gaynes will also be remembered as the soap opera star who fell in love with Dustin Hoffman’s titular Tootsie character.
The actor also made a name for himself singing and on Broadway. The series lasted for four seasons.
Gaynes is survived by his wife, actress Allyn Ann McLerie, his daughter, one granddaughter, and two great-granddaughters. He continued to work through the ’60s and ’70s on such small-screen classics as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Gaynes’ other film credits include The Way We Were, Altered States and Wag the Dog.
Young George was raised in France, England and Switzerland.
After the war he went to New York, where he joined the New York City Opera.
Gaynes retired following his appearance in the 2003 film “Just Married”, starring Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy.
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Colorful life: Gaynes was born in Helsinki, Finland, to a Russian mother and a Dutch father and moved to NY following the Second World War. He lost his son, Matthew, in a vehicle accident in 1989.
