Harris Yulin, the Emmy-nominated actor who appeared in films like Scarface, Clear and Present Danger and Training Day and on television in Frasier, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Ozark, has died. He was 87 years old.
Yulin died Tuesday, June 10 of cardiac arrest in New York City, according to his family and manager, Sue Leibman.
🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
In addition to his long career in film and television, Yulin performed in various Broadway productions, including 1980’s Watch on the Rhine, 1992’s The Visit, 1997’s The Diary of Anne Frank, 1999’s The Price and 2001’s Hedda Gabler.
The character actor was most known for his role as Mel Bernstein, a corrupt Miami detective who tries to extort money from Al Pacino’s Tony Montana, in Scarface. Other notable roles include a manipulative national security adviser in Clear and Present Danger (1994) and as the corrupt cop Rosselli in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day (2001).
Other acting credits include the judge in Ghostbusters II (1989) and the goofy scientist who creates four versions of Michael Keaton’s Doug Kinney in Multiplicity (1996).
More recently, Yulin appeared in two Netflix series: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Ozark.
He received his guest-star Emmy nomination in 1996 for his work on Frasier.
Yulin was born in Los Angeles on November 5, 1937. He was abandoned as an infant and left at an orphanage. He was adopted when he was four months old and raised in the Jewish religion by a Russian family, and said the “life-changing” inspiration to become an actor came during his bar mitzvah.
Yulin was married to actress Gwen Welles from 1975 until her death in 1993. He is survived by his wife, Kristen Lowman, son-in-law Ted, nephew Martin and godchildren Marco and Lara. He was predeceased by his daughter, actress Claire Lucido.
