Hal Linden
Publicity photo forFYI (1981)
Born	Harold Lipshitz (1931-03-20)March 20, 1931 (age 94) The Bronx,New York City, U.S.
Education	High School of Music & Art
Alma mater	Queens College City College of New York(BA)
Occupations	Actor, television director, musician
Years active	1956–present
Spouse	Frances Martin ​ ​ (m. 1958; died 2010)​
Children	4

Hal Linden (bornHarold Lipshitz,^[1] March 20, 1931) is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician.

Linden began his career as abig band musician and singer in the 1950s. After a stint in theUnited States Army, he began an acting career, first working insummer stock and off-Broadway productions. Linden found success on Broadway when he replacedSydney Chaplin in the musicalBells Are Ringing. In 1962, he starred as Billy Crocker in the off-Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musicalAnything Goes. In 1971, he won aBest Actor Tony Award for his portrayal of Mayer Rothschild in the musicalThe Rothschilds.

In 1974, Linden landed his best-known role as the title character in the television comedy seriesBarney Miller. The role earned him sevenPrimetime Emmy nominations and threeGolden Globe Award nominations. During the series' run, Linden also hosted two educational series,Animals, Animals, Animals andFYI. He won two specialDaytime Emmy Awards for the latter series. Linden won a third Daytime Emmy Award for a guest-starring role onCBS Schoolbreak Special in 1995. Linden has since continued his career on the stage, in films and guest-starring roles on television. He released his first album of pop and jazz standards,It's Never Too Late, in 2011.

Hal Linden was born on March 20, 1931, inThe Bronx,New York City,New York, the youngest son of Frances (née Rosen) and Charles Lipshitz, aLithuanian Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1910 and owned a printing shop. Hal's older brother, Bernard, became a professor of music atBowling Green State University.^[2] Linden attendedHerman Ridder Junior High School and theHigh School of Music and Art, going on to study music atQueens College, City University of New York.^[3][4] He later enrolled inBaruch College and thenCity College of New York, where he received aBachelor of Arts in business.^[5][6]

During his youth, Linden wanted to be abig band singer and bandleader. Before embarking on a career in music, he decided to change his name, stating, "'Swing and Sway with Harold Lipshitz' just didn't parse." While riding on a bus from Philadelphia to New York through the town ofLinden, New Jersey, he saw the name Linden on the water tower and changed his name to Hal Linden.^[7] During the 1950s, he toured withSammy Kaye,Bobby Sherwood, and other big bands of the era. Linden played the saxophone and clarinet and also sang.^[7][8]

He enlisted in theUnited States Army in 1952 and was sent toFort Belvoir and played in theUnited States Army Band. While he was in Fort Belvoir, a friend recommended that he see the touring production ofGuys and Dolls playing inWashington, D.C. After seeing the show, Linden decided to become an actor.^[9][10] He was discharged from the Army in 1954.^[5]

Linden replacedSydney Chaplin in the Broadway production ofBells Are Ringing in 1958.^[8] He made a further breakthrough on the New York City stage in 1962 when he was cast as Billy Crocker in the revival ofCole Porter'sAnything Goes.^[11]

Linden's career slowed in the 1960s. During this time, he dubbed English dialogue for various foreign films, did voiceover work for commercials and sangjingles,^[10] and performed inindustrial musicals such asDiesel Dazzle (1966). His career was revived in the 1970s when he was cast as Mayer Rothschild in the 1971 musicalThe Rothschilds. The role earned him aTony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.^[12] In 1973, he co-starred oppositeTony Lo Bianco in theNBC television filmMr. Inside/Mr. Outside. The film was intended to be thepilot for a proposed series but was not picked up by the network.^[13]

In 1974, Linden landed the starring role in theABC television police sitcomBarney Miller. He portrayed the eponymous captain of the 12th Precinct inGreenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. He earned sevenEmmy Award nominations for his work on the series. Linden is tied withMatt LeBlanc andJohn Goodman for the most Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy Award nominations without ever winning. He also earned fourGolden Globe Award nominations forBest Actor in a Musical or Comedy. The series aired from 1975 to 1982. Linden later said that leaving Broadway to work onBarney Miller was his most irrational act and also one of his best decisions.^[14]

During the run ofBarney Miller, Linden served as the narrator and host of the ABC children's showsAnimals, Animals, Animals andFYI. He won twoDaytime Emmys for Outstanding Individual Achievement for his host work onFYI. in 1984 and 1985.^[8]

AfterBarney Miller ended in 1982, Linden appeared in several television films, includingI Do! I Do! (1982), the television adaptation of themusical of the same name, andStarflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983). Also in 1982, he was the producers' first choice for the starring role of Dr. Donald Westphall inSt. Elsewhere, but he turned down the opportunity without reading the script or meeting the producers because he wanted to take a break from television.^[15] (The role was then given toEd Flanders.)

In 1984, he costarred in the television filmSecond Edition. The film was intended to be a series but was not picked up byCBS. The following year, Linden portrayed studio headJack L. Warner in the television biopicMy Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn.

In 1986, Linden returned to episodic television in theNBC seriesBlacke's Magic. He played the lead character, Alexander Blacke, a magician who solves mysteries with the help of his father Leonard (Harry Morgan), a retired carnival magician and sometimesconfidence man. The series was canceled after 13 episodes. In 1988, he co-starred in the romantic comedyA New Life, directed byAlan Alda. In 1991 he guest-starred in an episode of “The Golden Girls” in the part of John Neretti, Bea Arthur’s character’s love interest. In 1992, Linden tried his hand at television again with the leading role in the comedy-drama seriesJack's Place. In the series, Linden portrayed Jack Evans, a retired jazz musician who ran a restaurant that was frequented by patrons who learned lessons about love. The show was often compared toThe Love Boat by critics as it featured a different weekly guest star.^[16] The series premiered as amid-season replacement but did well enough in the ratings forABC to order additional episodes. Viewership soon declined and ABC chose to cancel the series in 1993. The next year, Linden appeared in the CBS sitcomThe Boys Are Back. That series was also low rated and canceled after 18 episodes. In 1995, Linden won his third Daytime Emmy Award for his 1994 guest-starring role as Rabbi Markovitz onCBS Schoolbreak Special.^[17]

In 1996, Linden had a supporting role in the television filmThe Colony, oppositeJohn Ritter andJune Lockhart. The role was a departure for Linden, as he played the villainous head of a home owner's association of a gated community.^[18] In 1999, he had a guest role in the lastThe Rockford Files reunion TV film,The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads. In 1997, he playedEbeneezer Scrooge in the yearlyMadison Square Garden production ofA Christmas Carol. He continued his career in the late 1990s and 2000s with guest roles onTouched by an Angel,The King of Queens,Gilmore Girls,Law & Order: Criminal Intent, andHot in Cleveland. He also narrated episodes ofBiography andThe American Experience, and voiced Eli Selig, Zeta's creator, on the animated seriesThe Zeta Project. In 2002, Linden received a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs, California,Walk of Stars.^[19]

In 2008, he played Arvide Abernathy inGuys and Dolls atHilbert Circle Theatre. Linden continued to have an active stage career. He appeared in theToronto production ofTuesdays with Morrie in 2009.^[20] In July 2011, he appeared oppositeChristina Pickles in the Colony Theatre's production ofOn Golden Pond.^[21] In 2011, Linden starred in a touring production of Shine featuring local professional talent.^[22] Linden also starred inUnder My Skin, which premiered at thePasadena Playhouse on September 19, 2012, and ran through October 2012.^[23] In 2013, Linden guest-starred in a season eight episode ofSupernatural as a rabbi and played the Interlocutor in theAhmanson Theatre production ofThe Scottsboro Boys. In 2014, Linden guest-starred in an episode of the comedy series2 Broke Girls. In 2015, he appeared at theOld Globe Theatre in the West Coast premiere ofThe Twenty Seventh Man starring as Yevgeny Zunser.^[24]

After the success ofBarney Miller, Linden decided to revive his music career with a nightclub act. In his act, Linden played the clarinet, performedpop and Broadway standards backed by a big band, and discussed his life and career.^[9][25] In March 2011, he began touring with the cabaret showAn Evening with Hal Linden: I'm Old Fashioned. The show, which ran through 2012, was later released on DVD. In April 2011, Linden released his first album,It's Never Too Late. The album features a collection ofjazz, Broadway and pop standards that Linden began recording around the time he was touring in the early 1980s. Due to a lack of interest, he shelved the songs. Linden decided to finish the album on the advice of his tour booker.^[26]

Linden is the spokesman for theJewish National Fund, a position he has held since 1997.^[27]

Linden met dancer Fran Martin while doing summer stock in 1955. They married in 1958 and had four children.^[8] Martin died in 2010.^[21]

In 1984, Linden narrated a short film on former PresidentHarry S. Truman, which was shown during that year'sDemocratic National Convention.^[28]

• Hal Linden at theInternet Broadway Database
• Hal Linden at theTCM Movie Database
• Hal Linden at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Hal Linden atIMDb 
• Hal Linden discography atDiscogs
• Hal Linden (2001).Tony Memory: Hal Linden (Video). American Theatre Wing. Event occurs at 00:00:00-00:02:37 (inclusive). Archived fromthe original(.SWF) on April 23, 2007. RetrievedJune 6, 2008.
• Hal Linden atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television

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