Pat Harrington, Jr., (born August 13, 1929) played the part of Mr. Jay Niedermeyer, owner of the Niedermeyer Building in The Wayans Bros. episode titled New Lease On Life. A veteran voice, stage, and television actor for six decades, Pat is most popularly known for his role as building superintendent "Schneider" on the CBS-TV sitcom seriees One Day at a Time. He is the son of late 1930s-1960's character actor Pat Harrington, Sr.
Biography[]
Harrington was born Daniel Patrick Harrington, Jr., in New York City, New York. His father was a song and dance man who worked in vaudeville and performed on the Broadway stage. In 1950, Harrington graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. and subsequently received a Masters degree in political philosophy, also from Fordham. During the Korean War, Harrington served as an Intelligence Officer with the United States Air Force, where he achieved the rank of First Lieutenant.
In 1985, after 30 years of marriage, Harrington divorced wife Marjorie Ann Gortner. He has four children and four grandchildren.[1]
Career[]
Following in his father's footsteps, Harrington pursued a career in entertainment after graduating from college and completing military service. He took a job at NBC in New York City. He then began acting on stage and toured North America with a number of plays, eventually performing on Broadway.
Harrington became famous in the 1950s as a member of Steve Allen's TV comedy troupe, the "Men on the Street" (which also included Don Knotts, Tom Poston, and Louis Nye). Harrington also gained considerable recognition for his many appearances as the comedic Italian immigrant "Guido Panzini" on The Tonight Show|The Jack Paar Show in the mid-1950s. In the 1964–1965 television season, he guest-starred on numerous programs, including the ABC-TV sitcom series The Bing Crosby Show, McHale's Navy, and NBC's Kentucky Jones (starring Dennis Weaver). In a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Bow-Wow Affair"), Harrington reprised his role as "Guido Panzini". In 1967, he appeared in the Elvis Presley film Easy Come, Easy Go. He also parodied Get Smart in an episode of F Troop, in which he played espionage secret agent "B Wise".
Harrington also worked as a voice over actor, most notably providing the voice of The Inspector from 1965 to 1969 in the theatrical cartoon series of the same name. He was also the voice of Ray Palmer/the Atom on The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967. In 1974, he co-starred with Peter Falk and Robert Conrad in the Columbo episode "An Exercise in Fatality".
However, Harrington is also widely known for his role as affable building superintendent "Dwayne Schneider" on the 1975–1984 television sitcom One Day at a Time. He won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his work on this series. He reprised his role as Schneider in a series of commercials for Trak Auto Parts after the show ended.
Awards[]
- 1980: 38th Annual Golden Globes Award – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film - One Day at a Time
- 1984: Primetime Emmy Award – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – One Day at a Time
