Kevin Geer, Side Man Actor and New York Stage Mainstay, Has Died

Kevin Geer, a mainstay actor of the New York theater scene, died Wednesday, January 25, of a heart attack, according to various reports on social media.

Geer made his Broadway debut in the 1988 revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire at the Circle in the Square Theatre, in which he replaced Frank Converse as Harold Mitchell. He also served as an understudy in Williams' The Rose Tattoo in 1995, and played Juror #2 in Roundabout Theatre Company's acclaimed 2004 revival of Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men.

Geer originated the role of Jonesy in Warren Leight's Side Man at Classic Stage Company's East 13th Street Theater in March 1998, a production that would move to Roundabout's Criterion Center Stage Right that summer, and then onto a commercial run at the Golden Theatre in October of that year. Geer also reprised his performance in the West End mounting of the Tony-winning drama.

Off-Broadway, Geer's credits date back to 1975 with Kid Champion at the Public Theater, a work written by Thomas Babe and Jim Steinman. His many other off-Broadway appearances include The Lady and the Clarinet, Found a Peanut, The Foreigner, On the Bum, The Preservation Society, Jayson With a Y, Unconditional, and Medieval Play, in 2012, at Signature Theatre.

Geer's many screen appearances include TV's M*A*S*H, The Waltons, The Equalizer, MacGyver, China Beach, and all three Law & Order series, including an episode of Special Victims Unit that aired in January 2016. He appeared opposite Elizabeth Taylor in a television film adaptation of Sweet Bird of Youth, and recently completed shooting the independent film Bunker Hill, directed by Kevin Willmott.

Side Man playwright Leight tweeted a memorial to Geer saying, "So many Kevin Geer stories, all come down to one thing: he cared about theater, craft, your play, and helping you find your voice."