Gary Beach

The theater called to Gary Beach as he left his home state of Virginia to study acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts, which led directly into the start of his stage career at the age of 22 in 1969. His first show was "1776" where he performed in touring productions with the occasional appearance as a fill-in on Broadway. For the first decade and change of his career, he stuck around the world of the theater, with his most notable run during this time being on "Annie" in the late '70s and early '80s. He made his first appearances on television in the mid-'80s, including one-off appearances on everything from "Cheers" (NBC 1982-1994) to "Saved by the Bell" (NBC 1989-1993). He crossed over into more mainstream notoriety after his Tony-nominated turn as the candelabra Lumiere in the Broadway run of "Beauty of the Beast" in 1994. That notable role put Beach on the path to his most enduring role: Roger De Bris in Mel Brooks' Broadway debut "The Producers" in 2001. The smash hit musical cleaned up at the Tony Awards, netting Beach an award of his own for his performance. Beach played the role on and off for years, even reprising it for the 2005 film version. His leading role in the 2004 revival of "La Cage aux Folles" earned another Tony nomination and Beach's last few performances included everything from Thenardier in the 2006 revival of "Les Miserables" and a touring run as King Arthur in "Spamalot" in the late 2000s. In 2018, Beach passed away at his home at the age of 70.