Obituaries

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A Shining Star Of Detroit

David Sachs

Senior Copy Editor

V

eteran stage and screen actor
Michael Tolan died at age 85
in Hudson, N.Y., after a coura-
geous battle with multiple illnesses.
Mr. Tolan was a man of great integ-
rity and intelligence who excelled in a
memorable career that spanned radio,
theater, movies and television.
"Mickey had such a gorgeous, divine
voice and he was such an articulate,
intelligent man:' said longtime friend
Mary Lou Zieve of Bloomfield Hills.
Born Seymour Tuchow in Detroit
on Nov. 27,1925, Mr. Tolan attended
Central High School and graduated
from Wayne University in 1947.
While Mr. Tolan was at Wayne in the
1940s, his deep, sonorous voice was
heard originating live from Detroit on
radio station WXYZ in The Lone Ranger
and The Green Hornet.
After graduation, he moved to New
York where he studied under famed
acting instructor Stella Adler and later
won a fellowship to study acting at
Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
At that time, he was discovered by a
scout from Warner Bros. and made his
movie debut at age 24 in The Enforcer
with Humphrey Bogart. Later movie
credits included The Greatest Story Ever
Told, All That Jazz, Presumed Innocent,
The Perfect Stranger and others.
He also co-produced Five on the
Black Hand Side, a nonviolent movie
about an African American family in
Harlem.
In 1963, Mr. Tolan co-founded the

Bloom's

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American Place Theater with Wynn
Handman and Sidney Lanier. It proved
a starting point for rising writers like
Ed Bullins and Ronald Ribman and
actors such as Ellen Barkin and Faye
Dunaway. At American
Place, he played along-
side Dustin Hoffman in
The Journey of the Fifth
Horse. He acted again
with Hoffman in the
film John and Mary.
"Mr. Tolan was a truly
remarkable and versa-
tile actor who all of us
have enjoyed and who
was familiar to genera-
tions of viewers of stage,
screen and television,"
Michael Tolan
said David Magidson,
artistic director of the
Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) in West
Bloomfield and professor of theater at
Wayne State University. "The entertain-
ment world will surely miss his vibrant
presence."
About 20 years ago, Mary Lou Zieve,
a founding member of the JET, asked
the veteran actor to direct a play there.
"It was a joy working with Mickey," she
said.

Early Days In Radio, Theater
Liz Weiss of West Bloomfield worked
with Mr. Tolan in the pioneering days
of Detroit radio drama. "Mickey was
Cato on The Green Hornet and we
all played various parts on The Lone
Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon," she
said.
During their days as theater students

at Wayne, Mickey played the lead role
in a production of Oedipus Rex and Liz
played his mother/wife, Joscasta. It was
opening night when Liz caught the eye
of the late actor Rube Weiss, who would
become her husband.
"There was no one
else like Mickey," said
Liz. "He was born with
this immense, immense
talent. All a director
had to do was tell him
when and where to
move."
Zieve knew Mr. Tolan
through her late hus-
band, Mort, a friend
of his from the Wayne
University days. Mort
later became a Channel
7 director and then
an advertising executive. It was Mort,
Mary Lou said, who enticed his friend
to apply for the acting fellowship in
California, which led to his contract
with Warner Bros.
The friendship long endured.
Recalled Mary Lou, "In 2009, I asked
Mickey to come to the Hilberry Theatre
in Detroit to repeat his New York per-
formance of A Man, A Woman and a
Cello: An Evening of Poetry and Music.
Even though he was in poor health,
Mickey read poetry with his marvelous
voice while Nadine Deleury played the
cello. On that trip, he also addressed
WSU theater students, telling about
the beginnings of the Wayne theater
department and giving pointers on how
to seek that "big break" into show busi-
ness.

"Mickey was an exceptionally kind
man with a wonderful, giving heart. It
was a privilege to know and work with
him and call him my friend:' Zieve said.
Michael Tolan is survived by his
companion, Donna Peck of Copake,
N.Y.; daughters, Alexandra, Jenny and
Emily Tolan; brother and sister-in-
law, Gerald and Marilyn Tuchow of
Bloomfield Hills; nephews and nieces,
Jonathan Tuchow of Salt Lake City,
Matthew (Niccola) Tuchow of San
Francisco, Lincoln (Kathy Batiste)
Tuchow of Portland, Ore., Gabrielle (Dr.
Montgomery) Gillard of Ann Arbor and
Victoria (Leon) Mualem of Pasadena,
Calif.
The family will hold memorial
service and celebration of the life of
Michael Tolan in Detroit at a date to be
announced.
In addition, Wayne State University
will be holding a celebration of Mr.
Tolan's life at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 8,
at the Hilberry Theatre, where he per-
formed on Oct. 7, 2009.
In appreciation of the opportunities
given them as undergraduates, the Gerald
Tuchow and Michael Tolan Endowed
Theater Achievement Award Fund was
set up by the brothers at Wayne State
University College of Performing Arts to
recognize outstanding achievement for
undergraduates in theater.
To honor Mr. Tolan's memory, memo-
rial contributions may be made pay-
able to the Gerald Tuchow and Michael
Tolan Endowed Theater Achievement
Award Fund and mailed to Wayne State
University Fund Office, 5475 Woodward
Ave., Detroit MI 48081. II

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