St. Elsewhere Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

In 1982, the television landscape looked drastically different than it does today. So when the series "St. Elsewhere" debuted, it represented one of the first signs of television moving towards its prestige-dominated present.

Revolving around St. Eligius, a teaching hospital in Boston, "St. Elsewhere" acted as a predecessor to many of the more modern hospital dramas and sitcoms that have come since. Shows like "ER," "Chicago Hope," and "The Resident" embraced the "Elsewhere" approach to large, diverse casts and crosscutting storylines. "Grey's Anatomy" and "Virgin River" continue its approach to the soapy aspects of medical life. Heck, even "Scrubs" reflects "Elsewhere" with its underfunded teaching hospital setting and off-kilter humor.

However, the show's most significant contribution to pop culture remains its ability to showcase incredible actors. Despite struggling in the ratings, "Elsewhere" was counted many future stars amongst its doctors. Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Bruce Greenwood, and Howie Mandel — to name but a few — built foundational aspects of their careers in St. Elgius' hallways.

Given the cast's size and depth of guest stars featured over six seasons, it can be challenging to keep track of what happened to all of them in the years since. Unfortunately, several of the illustrious players have passed away over the years. Please join us as we revisit St. Eligius once more to pay tribute to the actors who are no longer with us.

Norman Lloyd spent 86 years of his life acting on either stage, film, or television screen. After graduating high school at age 15, Lloyd went to New York University. However, he dropped out after a year in response to the Great Depression. Fortunately, Lloyd was eventually able to begin his acting career as the youngest student at one of New York's most respected acting school.

Throughout the 1930s, Lloyd repeatedly was a part of some of the era's most significant events, including the social theater scene and becoming a charter player in Orson Welles' independent repertory group The Mercury Theatre. Then, after a brief hiatus thanks to the Hollywood blacklist, Lloyd found his way back to show business thanks to Alfred Hitchcock hiring him to produce and direct "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in the late '50s. From that point forward, Lloyd worked as either an actor, producer, or director until 2017.

As Dr. Daniel Auschlander in "St. Elsewhere," Lloyd played the chief of services and, essentially, the hospital's institutional memory. Introduced as suffering from cancer in the first season, Auschlander always seemed well aware of his mortality, even after remission. Lloyd, however, survived many years more. He made notable appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Murder, She Wrote," — as three different characters, in fact — and "Modern Family." He also showed up on the big screen in the likes of "Dead Poets Society," "Trainwreck," and "The Age of Innocence." In May of 2021, he died at 106 years old.

While trying to break into acting, Stephen Furst delivered pizzas to make ends meet. Deciding any exposure could help him, he began to include a headshot with every pizza delivered. This eventually got him noticed by Matty Simmons and cast as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in "Animal House." He would go on to a career of extensive television and voiceover work. Even as he scaled back his acting, he remained an active producer, helping to make films for the rest of his life.

He joined the cast of "Elsewhere" in the series' second season, playing medical student Elliot Axelrod. In the third season, he both became a doctor and a full member of the cast. He'd remain in the role until the series finale, appearing in 97 episodes.

Before dying in 2106 from complications of diabetes, Furst was among those who questioned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences commitment to diversity. In a letter, he argued that the Academy's reaction to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign failed to address the body's sexism and ageism. Additionally, he suggested many existing members voted without watching the films in question.

The other half of the unhoused couple from "Cora and Arnie," James Coco turned in a surprisingly empathetic performance as the cognitively limited Arnie. Struggling with processing in general and gaps in his memory, Arnie has to come to terms with his wife's health problems and how they'll permanently affect their lives.

Like Roberts, Coco came away with an Emmy for his work on the episode. Throughout his career, the actor earned significant awards attention. In addition to the Emmy, he received three Obie Awards for Distinguished Performance for his stage work in "The Moon in Yellow River," "Fragments," and "The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie." Coco snagged an Oscar nomination for his work in the dramedy "Only When I Laugh," and you might recognize him from cameos and guest spots in "The Love Boat," "Murder, She Wrote," "Fantasy Island," and "The Muppets Take Manhattan."

Sadly, in 1987, Coco suffered a heart attack at home and died shortly after. He was 56 years old.

One thing "St. Elsewhere" became known for over its tenure was how it crossed over and into other series on NBC. For example, with its Boston setting, some of the doctors naturally made their way to "Cheers."

And then there was the Season 4 episode "Close Encounters," where actor Jack Riley gave us another wild crossover. Riley reprised his role as Elliot Carlin, his character from "The Bob Newhart Show" a decade earlier. The references didn't stop there either. One character under St. Elgius' care believes he's Mary Richards from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." As a result, he repeatedly refers to other members of the Elgius staff or visitors as characters from the hit sitcom. The most meta of these is the character calling Betty White, also guesting as Captain Gloria Neal, Sue Ann. White, of course, played Sue Ann Nivens in "Moore."

After years of guest appearances, sometimes reprising Carlin yet again, Riley spent much of the latter portion of his career doing voice work, including, most prominently, as Stu Pickles in "Rugrats." He passed away in 2016 from pneumonia at 80 years old.