Harold Gould

Gould was born in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Louis Goldstein, a postal worker, and Lillian, a homemaker who did part-time work for the New York State Health Department. Gould was raised in Colonie, New York and was valedictorian of his high school class. He enrolled at Albany Teachers College upon graduation and studied to become a social studies or English public high school teacher.

After two years in college, Gould enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and saw combat in France in a chemical mortar battalion. He developed trench foot and was sent back to England to recover. After convalescence, Gould served in a rail transport unit in France.

After the war, Gould returned to Albany Teachers College and changed his major to study drama and theatre and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947. He performed in summer stock theatre on Cape Cod, then decided to enroll at Cornell University to study drama and speech. Gould earned a Master of Arts degree in 1948 and a Ph.D. in theatre in 1953 from Cornell and also met his future wife, Lea Vernon. Upon graduation, Gould accepted a position at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he spent three years teaching and doing stage work. He made his professional theatre debut in 1955 portraying third President Thomas Jefferson in The Common Glory in Williamsburg, Virginia.

In 1956, Gould was offered a professorship in the drama department at the UC Riverside, which he accepted. He taught there for four years until 1960 when he decided to try professional acting himself. He had difficulty finding acting jobs at first and had to take side work as a security guard and as a part-time acting teacher at UCLA.

Gould made his film debut in an uncredited role in Two for the Seesaw (1962). His first credited role was a small part in The Coach (also 1962). That same year he appeared as Prosecutor Tom Finney on The Virginian in the episode titled "The Accomplice." After uncredited appearances in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and The Satan Bug (1965), Gould gradually found more work with credited roles in The Yellow Canary (1964), a Rod Serling film starring Pat Boone, Jack Klugman, and Barbara Eden; Inside Daisy Clover (1965); and Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman.

Gould began appearing regularly in television in the 1960s and 1970s including roles in the children's sitcom Dennis the Menace, followed by numerous other shows of various types / genres such as – Dr. Kildare, Hazel, The Twilight Zone, The Donna Reed Show, Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Gunsmoke, I Dream of Jeannie, The F.B.I., The Big Valley, Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cannon, and Hawaii Five-O where he made multiple appearances as Honore Vashon, one of that series' most memorable villains. Gould originated the role of Marlo Thomas's father in the 1965 pilot for That Girl, but the series role was later recast with Lew Parker. Gould appeared in The Long, Hot Summer and He & She, two short-lived television series.

He also appeared in a pilot later broadcast as a 1972 episode of Love, American Style titled "Love and the Happy Days" with him in the role of Howard Cunningham, the frustrated father of a high schooler named Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard). Gould agreed to reprise the role on the upcoming series Happy Days; however, when production of Happy Days was delayed, he went abroad to perform in a play. Midway through the that play's run, after learning the TV series was ready to begin shooting, he decided to honor his commitment to the stage production and passed on the role. This led to the role of Howard Cunningham being recast with Tom Bosley. Gould would later state that a requirement to shave the beard he wore at the time was another factor in his decision to decline the repeat role.

Gould had worked steadily in television and film for nearly fifteen years before his career began to gain momentum with his portrayal of "Kid Twist' in the fake horse racing gambling hall set up in The Sting (1973), winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture of that year. He went on to appear in Woody Allen's Love and Death (1975) and the Disney film Gus (1976). He was "Engulf," the villainous head of a conglomerate, in Silent Movie (1976), directed by Mel Brooks, and made guest appearances on television shows such as Petrocelli, The Love Boat and Soap where he played the hospital roommate of Jody Dallas (Billy Crystal).

In 1972, Gould was cast as Martin Morgenstern, the father of Mary's best friend Rhoda, in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He reprised the role the following year and was hired as a regular when Rhoda became a spin-off in 1974. Gould appeared in the short-lived 1977 series The Feather and Father Gang, starring as Harry Danton, a smooth-talking ex-con man, with Stefanie Powers as Toni "Feather" Danton, his daughter and a hard-working, successful lawyer. The show was canceled after 13 episodes, and Gould returned to Rhoda for the remainder of its run.

Gould also appeared in the miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors. In the 1980 NBC miniseries The Scarlett O'Hara War, he portrayed MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer which gained him an Emmy nomination. He appeared as Chad Lowe's grandfather in Spencer and played a Jewish widower wooing the Christian Katharine Hepburn in Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry. Other roles included a married man having an affair with another member of his Yiddish-speaking club in an episode of the PBS series The Sunset Years and as the owner of a deli grooming two African-American men to inherit his business in Singer & Sons. Gould received Emmy nominations for his roles in Rhoda, Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, and Moviola.

Gould played Miles Webber, the steadfast suitor of Rose Nylund (Betty White), on The Golden Girls in 12 episodes across three seasons (he also played another of Rose's boyfriends, Arnie, in one episode of the show's first season). He reprised the role of Miles in two episodes of the spin-off, The Golden Palace, where he became the character's ex-boyfriend and married someone else.

He portrayed the father of a villain called The Prankster on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and made guest appearances on television series such as Felicity, The King of Queens, Touched by an Angel, and Judging Amy. Gould's film roles in the 1990s and 2000s include appearances in Stuart Little, Patch Adams, The Master of Disguise, the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, Nobody's Perfect, and Whisper of the Heart.

His stage credits include Broadway theatre plays such as Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups, Neil Simon's Fools, Richard Baer's Mixed Emotions, and Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase. Gould won an Obie Award in 1969 for his work in The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, written by Václav Havel, and reprised the role for a 1988 PBS version of the play. Gould was an early and longtime (48 years) member of Theatre West, the oldest membership theatre company in Los Angeles. He played Mr. Green in Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr. Green at the Pasadena Playhouse.