During an Actor\u2019s Workshop production of Beckett\u2019s absurdist play \u201cWaiting for Godot\u201d in San Quentin Prison, his portrayal of Lucky inspired the prisoners and led to the creation of the San Quentin Drama Workshop with inmate Rick Cluchey. The troupe operated from 1958 through 1965, making it the first extended prison theater program in the U.S. launched by prisoners.<\/p>\n
John N. Apostol, then supervisor of recreation at San Quentin, told Recreation Magazine in 1963 that the group served a twofold purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only does it provide an excellent creative outlet for the men, along with serving as a leisure-time activity, but the group has proven to be a splendid emotional outlet with marked therapeutic values,\u201d he said. \u201cThe men learn to work together and accept a responsibility toward the show they are doing and toward one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irving and Blau were later selected to run the Repertory Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York and asked Mandell to come onboard as the company\u2019s manager. <\/p>\n
He later moved to California to join the Los Angeles Actors\u2019 Theatre, which became the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he served as a consulting director and actor, and helped develop the poetry\/literary series.<\/p>\n
Mandell was born Albert Mandell in Toronto, on Dec. 27, 1927, to Bella Grossman and Louis Mandell. He officially changed his name in 1968.<\/p>\n
He was married to Elizabeth Heller until her death on June 16, 1997. She was 65. <\/p>\n
Aside from his stage work, Mandell appeared in several films, where he played understated characters grounded in his work in the theater of the absurd. His credits include Peter Bogdanovich\u2019s 1988 rom-com \u201cIllegally Yours,\u201d the 1993 action thriller \u201cMidnight Witness,\u201d the 2006 comedy \u201cShortbus,\u201d as Rabbi Marshak in the Coen brothers\u2019 2009 film \u201cA Serious Man\u201d and as Vetril Dease in Dan Gilroy\u2019s 2019 satirical comedy \u201cVelvet Buzzsaw.\u201d <\/p>\n
Throughout his career, Mandell also made guest appearances on television, including episodes of the PBS anthology series \u201cGreat Performances,\u201d CBS\u2019 \u201cCannon,\u201d ABC\u2019s \u201cThe Six Million Dollar Man\u201d and ABC\u2019s \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d \u2014 the latter of which was his last TV appearance.<\/p>\n
At the tail end of his career, Mandell lent his voice to several serialized podcast productions, including \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d in which he voiced Friar Laurence, \u201cAnthem: Homunculus\u201d and \u201cA Voice From Darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792036931_738_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Alan Mandell as Gregory Solomon in Arthur Miller\u2019s \u201cThe Price\u201d at the Mark Taper Forum in 2015.<\/p>\n
(Lawrence K. Ho \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Fame from his film and television appearances was never his primary goal. His main ambition was to perform on the stage, a place where he felt most alive<\/a>, but his dad didn\u2019t see it as a job. <\/p>\n \u201cHe thought this was some kind of hobby and then you did something serious with your life,\u201d Mandell told The Times in 2015. \u201cObviously, having gone through the Depression, you didn\u2019t become an actor. You became a lawyer or doctor, the usual choices of any good Jewish boy.\u201d<\/p>\n The famed stage actor, who performed late into his life, didn\u2019t shy away from challenging roles. In 2007, at the ripe age of 80, Mandell played a cantankerous, aging Nuremberg judge in a two-character production of \u201cTrying.\u201d The role required memorizing lengthy dialogue loaded with dates and names.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was agonizing and just felt to learn this is beyond me,\u201d Mandell told The Times<\/a> in 2007. \u201cI was just very fearful of getting out there and not knowing it. I was not happy at all.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, Mandell joined actor Barry McGovern in his 400th performance as Vladimir in Beckett\u2019s \u201cWaiting for Godot\u201d at the Mark Taper Forum. It was the first time the two actors had paired up for a production of the playwright\u2019s work.<\/p>\n Michael Arabian was initially intimidated by the thought of directing Mandell, who had previously worked on the play with the author.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to really come to the table with a lot of research, so that I could be very knowledgeable and very clear with my interpretation, and then they could say, \u2018OK, he knows what he\u2019s doing,\u2019 \u201d Arabian told The Times.<\/a><\/p>\n Mandell described Beckett as a conductor rather than a director. \u201cHe didn\u2019t sit around talking about who was this character, what life did he have before this. It was about rhythm. It was about language. The pauses were like musical beats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While preparing to play Gregory Solomon at the age of 89 in the revival of Arthur Miller\u2019s \u201cThe Price\u201d at the Mark Taper Forum in 2015, the actor thought it might be his final stage performance, but a year later, at the age of 88, he starred in and directed a production of Beckett\u2019s \u201cEndgame.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is it,\u201d he told Los Angeles Magazine<\/a>. \u201cThere are other things I want to do. I\u2019m at a time in my life when I look at my so-called bucket list, and there are places I want to go. I better travel while I\u2019m able to do it. I won\u2019t put myself through this again.\u201d<\/p>\n