Jimmy Elidrissi, a theater and television actor best known as the security guard on “Waldorf—The Series,” died at his home on Wednesday.
The 74-year-old New Yorker had worked as a waiter, waiter, barkeep, hairstylist, car repair man, mover, football player, writer, auditor, diner shift manager, all before his 1974 Broadway debut as Robert Thirsk’s assistant, James Haywood in “Kiss Me Kate.”
That role led to the TV adaptation of “Silk Stockings,” which he played for five seasons, as Fabian Valdecarlos, on the popular ABC series.
He went on to appear in more than 150 TV shows and four films, including “The Munsters” (as Herman Munster’s boyhood friend Fred, and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (his performance as Julian Clary’s former radio producer, Billy, was strongly inspired by Hal Holbrook), “Gorillas in the Mist” (in addition to the film’s script, he wrote “Dental” and “The Jury”), and “The Tales of Hoffmann” (as Raoul Grosvenor, the aristocratic lover of the female Countess of Remembrance).
His New York stage credits included “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “The Second Act,” “The Road to Mecca,” “The Foreigner,” “The Desperadoes,” “Cobalt,” “Mrs. Whitney,” “I’m a Fugitive From a Chain Gang,” “In The Mood for Love,” “Trouble in Heartland,” “The Rink,” “The Field of Dreams,” “The Rocky Horror Show,” “Into the West,” “Guys and Dolls,” “The Producers,” “Blithe Spirit,” “Babes in Arms,” “The Pajama Game,” “Third of July,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Guys and Dolls,” “The New Glass Menagerie,” “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” “Secret Garden,” “Side by Side by Sondheim,” “Brigadoon,” “An American in Paris,” “Richard III,” “The Very Thought of You,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “King Lear,” “Life With Father,” “Trouble in Paradise,” “Cats,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Assassins,” “Maria,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “The Rainbow,” “Deathtrap,” “Wicked,” “Motown,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Chess,” “Scandalous,” “Carry on Camping,” “The Most American of Superheroes,” “The Last Picture Show,” “Daniel Boone,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “A Face in the Crowd,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “The Renoir,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “The Pink Panther,” “The Cocktail Hour,” “Beau Monde,” “Three Blind Mice,” “Life of Riley,” “Fallen Angels,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Quiz Show,” “The Little Rascals,” “The Love Parade,” “The Music Man,” “The Whore at Tulip Time,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Leaves of Grass,” “Two Guys