Stage, television and film actor Harold Gould, M.A. '48, Ph.D. '53, died Sept. 11 in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 86.

Born Harold Vernon Goldstein in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1923, Gould earned his two graduate degrees in theater. He taught literature, speech and drama while at Cornell, later teaching at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia and the University of California-Riverside, while taking some off-Broadway roles through the 1950s.

In 1960, he took a leave of absence from teaching to launch a professional acting career. That leave would last a half-century as Gould became a ubiquitous character actor, often playing fathers, grandfathers and elegant gentlemen.

He and his wife, Lea Shampanier Gould, B.A. '48, M.A. '53, whose stage name is Lea Vernon, portrayed Willy and Linda Loman in a Cornell production of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" in September 1997.

Harold Gould acted in more than 100 stage plays and 30 films, and made more than 300 series television appearances, including "Hogan's Heroes," "Mr. Ed," "Dr. Kildare" and other series in the 1960s. He had recurring roles as Martin Morgenstern, the father on "Rhoda" in the 1970s, and as Miles, the boyfriend of Betty White's character on "The Golden Girls" a decade later.

On the big screen, Gould played con man Kid Twist in "The Sting" (1973); Woody Allen's rival in "Love and Death" (1975); and appeared in many other movies including Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" (1976), "Patch Adams" (1998) and "Freaky Friday" (2003).

Gould won an Obie Award in 1969 for "The Increased Difficulty of Concentration" by Vaclav Havel and played the lead role in John Guare's "The House of Blue Leaves" in 1971, which won an Obie for best American play.

He also had Broadway roles in Neil Simon's "Fools," Jules Feiffer's "Grown Ups," Tom Stoppard's "Artist Descending a Staircase" and Richard Baer's "Mixed Emotions." In the last decade, his stage work included "Tuesdays with Morrie" and the comedy "Viagra Falls."

Gould received five Emmy nominations, including one for a supporting role in the 1986 television movie "Mrs. Delafield Wants To Marry," starring Katharine Hepburn.

He is survived by his wife, three children and five grandchildren.