Stefan Gierasch (February 5, 1926 – September 6, 2014) was an American film and television actor.
Personal
Gierasch was a native of New York and studied at The Actors Studio.
Gierasch was married 33 years to actress Hedy Sontag at the time of his death. The couple have 3 children, Amanda, Elisa and Matthew.
Career
Gierasch made over 100 screen appearances, mostly in American television, beginning in 1951. In the mid-1960s, he performed with the Trinity Square Players in Providence, Rhode Island. He appeared in dozens of films including in The Hustler (1961), The Traveling Executioner (1970), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), What's Up Doc? (1972), High Plains Drifter (1973), Carrie (1976), Silver Streak (1976), Victory at Entebbe (1976), Blue Sunshine (1977), The Champ (1979), Blood Beach (1980) and Perfect (1985).
In 1994 he appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito film Junior as Edward Sawyer, and in 1995's Murder in the First as Warden James Humson. Gierasch made many TV appearances, as in Kung Fu, M*A*S*H, Starsky & Hutch, Gunsmoke (1966 S12E6’s “Gunfighter, RIP”), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Barney Miller and ER.
Death
Gierasch died at home from a stroke in 2014 at the age of 88.
Selected filmography
The Young Don't Cry (1957) – Billy
That Kind of Woman (1959) – Soldier (uncredited) The Hustler (1961) – Preacher The Traveling Executioner (1970) – Willy Herzallerliebst What's Up Doc? (1972) – Fritz Jeremiah Johnson (1972) – Del Gue The New Centurions (1972) – Landlord High Plains Drifter (1973) – Mayor Jason Hobart Claudine (1974) – Sanitation Foreman Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) – Sgt. Danaher The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1976) – Hotel Clerk Carrie (1976) – Mr. Morton Silver Streak (1976) – Professor Schreiner & Johnson Victory at Entebbe (1976) – General Mordecai Gur Blue Sunshine (1977) – Lt. Jennings The Champ (1979) – Charlie Goodman Blood Beach (1980) – Dr. Dimitrios Perfect (1985) – Charlie The Rosary Murders (1987) – Trupiano Spellbinder (1988) – Edgar DeWitt Miami Vice episode 5x16 "Victim of Circumstance" (1989) Megaville (1990) – Dr. Vogel Mistress (1992) – Stuart Stratland, Sr. Jack the Bear (1993) – Father-in-Law Dave (1993) – House Majority Leader Junior (1994) – Edward Sawyer Murder in the First (1995) – Warden James Humson Starry Night (1999) – Professor Beckmore Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002) – Nathan The Hunter's Moon (2009) – The Sage (final film role)