Jack Axelrod, the actor who played mob boss Victor Jerome on “General Hospital” and guest starred on such series as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “My Name Is Earl,” has died. He was 93.
Axelrod died Nov. 28 of natural causes in L.A., his rep Jennifer Garland told PvNew.
Axelrod portrayed Victor Jerome on the ABC soap “General Hospital” for 40 episodes from 1987 to 1989. He was also known for his roles as the Electrolarynx Guy on “My Name Is Earl” and patient Charlie Yost, who was in a semi-comatose state at Seattle Grace, on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Additional television credits include “Dallas,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Dynasty,” “Outlaws,” “Night Court,” “Knots Landing,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Alias,” “Frasier,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Scrubs,” “Star-ving,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “Baskets,” “Speechless,” “Ray Donovan,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Modern Family.”
Born in L.A. on Jan. 25, 1930, Axelrod served as a corporal in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany from February 1953 to February 1955. He later majored in architecture at UC Berkeley and eventually became licensed as an architect in the state of Washington.
While working in architectural offices, Axelrod pursued an acting career and, in 1969, he portrayed Banquo in an off-Broadway production of “Macbeth.” The next year, he appeared off-Broadway in “Gandhi” and followed the play to Broadway, but it closed on opening night.
Axelrod made his feature film debut in Woody Allen’s 1971 comedy “Bananas.” He worked on “Vice” (2000), “Road to Redemption” (2001), “Hancock” (2008), “Little Fockers” (2010), “Super 8” (2011), “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011), “J. Edgar” (2011), “The Lone Ranger” (2013) and other films until his retirement at age 90 in 2020.
Axelrod was a theater faculty member at colleges including the University of Wisconsin, Boston University, University of Michigan, Penn State, Temple University, Cal Arts and Brandeis University, and was a guest instructor at the Aaron Speiser Acting Studio in L.A.
