The ultra-reliable, seemingly born middle-aged character actor, who earned a doctorate in theater and appeared in a film notable movies and countless TV shows (he has over 191 credits on IMDb), passed on this weekend at age 86.
Such is the lot of the supporting performer that the only clips I could find from Harold Gould’s best known role are bits and pieces of longer clips from “The Sting.” However, if you watch the first couple of minutes of this embed, you’ll get a nice glimpse of the underplayed authority and compassionate humor Gould brought to all of his roles as highly skilled confidence professional Kid Twist chats with a low-achieving grifter.
As a very young person, “The Sting” was one of the movies that really hooked me on the movies. Nevertheless, as an older person who’s now seen a lot of movies, I have to admit that, “You’ve got moxie, Erie” isn’t exactly the freshest dialogue. (Sorry, David S. Ward.) Even so, Gould made it mean something.
Sadly, embeddable clips of Gould as the kindly father of Mary Tyler Moore spin-off protagonist Rhoda (Valerie Harper) or the conniving but kindly dad (if I’m remembering right) of Richie Brockleman or as the kindly and very Jewish hospital roommate of Billy Crystal’s character in “Soap” are just as hard to come by as good movie clips of Gould. Never mind, the man lives forever in the memory of those of us who’ve spent way too much time in front of illuminated screens.
