Ray Reinhardt, a veteran stage and screen actor who spent about 25 years with the American Conservatory Theater’s celebrated repertory company, has died at 96.
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Reinhardt died August 5 at his home in Oakland, according to his longtime partner, Lois Hansen. He built a career that stretched across theater, television and film, while earning particular recognition for his work with ACT in San Francisco.
Born Raymond Harald Reinhardt on March 28, 1930, in New York City, Reinhardt grew up in the Bronx. His parents, Max and Carola Reinhardt, had immigrated to the United States from Germany. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1948.
Ray Reinhardt Found His Love For Acting In The Army
Reinhardt discovered acting after the U.S. Army drafted him. Acting classes he had taken in New York qualified him for an arts program during basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He appeared in his first production, Golden Boy, at age 21.
After leaving the Army, Reinhardt used the G.I. Bill to study theater at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He later worked with regional theater companies in Boston, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., before appearing in a Broadway production of Tiny Alice, alongside Sir John Gielgud.
Producer Bill Ball saw Reinhardt perform and recruited him for the repertory company that became ACT. The organization began in Pittsburgh in 1965 before moving to San Francisco two years later.
During his ACT years, Reinhardt tackled major theatrical roles, including Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac, Caesar in Julius Caesar, and Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. He also appeared with Annette Bening in productions including Our Town and The Chalk Garden.
Reinhardt worked extensively on television, appearing in supporting roles on shows including Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke, and Arnie. His screen credits also included the 1990 thriller The Hunt for Red October.
He continued working as an actor until the COVID-19 pandemic halted much of the industry. Reinhardt’s decades-long career left a lasting mark on Bay Area theater and the generations of performers who worked alongside him.