Tony-Nominated Character Actress Alice Playten Dies at Age 63

Alice Playten, whose distinctive voice was put to good use in comedic stage roles spanning more than 50 years, died on June 25 of heart failure complicated by pancreatic cancer. She was 63 and lived in Manhattan.

Born in Brooklyn on August 28, 1947, the former Alice Plotkin studied at the Metropolitan Opera ballet school and made her Broadway debut as Baby Louise in the original production of Gypsy. In 1963, she played Bet, Nancy’s younger sister, in Oliver!, then created the role of Ermengarde, Horace Vandergelder’s niece, in Hello, Dolly! At age 20, the diminutive actress received a Tony nomination and Theatre World Award for the short-lived musical Henry, Sweet Henry. Other Broadway credits include Rumors, Seussical and Caroline, or Change (as Grandma Gellman).

Playten was a two-time Obie winner for National Lampoon’s Lemmings and First Lady Suite and appeared off-Broadway in Sorrows of Stephen, Spoils of War and A Flea in Her Ear, among others. After starring with Richard Masur in the Flea Theater’s The Oldsmobiles in 2009, Playten made her final stage appearance in the short-lived off-Broadway comedy It Must Be Him in September 2010.

On film, Playten is remembered for playing Blix, a pointy-eared goblin who serves Tim Curry's Lord of Darkness, in the 1985 sci-fi film Legend. She appeared in episodes of Frasier, Third Watch, Law & Order and The Book of Daniel, among others.

Survivors include her husband, Joshua White, and one brother, Steven.