Actor Mark Blum, who's known for his work in the film Desperately Seeking Susan and the Netflix hit You, has now died from complications due to the coronavirus. The veteran stage actor was 69-years-old. His death was first announced by the Off Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons, and has been confirmed by SAG-AFTRA.
Many of the people Mark Blum worked with are now coming forward to share tributes to him and the time they spent working with him, and here's what Playwrights Horizons had to say about the actor on Twitter:
While Mark Blum is likely best known to TV audiences for his time playing Mr. Mooney, the owner of the bookstore Mooney's and a surrogate father to Joe, on Netflix's You, Blum has had a long career in both TV and movies, as well as on the stage. Blum lent his talents to a number of well-known television shows and films, beginning in 1983, and was also seen in St. Elsewhere, Crocodile Dundee, Miami Vice, Roseanne, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Fringe, The Good Wife, Mozart in the Jungle, Succession, The Good Fight, Elementary and Billions, among many other properties.
Blum worked alongside Madonna (who spoke about his death on Facebook) and Rosanna Arquette on Desperately Seeking Susan, and the latter took time out to say some lovely things about him on Twitter:
A veteran of Off Broadway theater for over 40 years, Mark Blum has also appeared in a number of live productions, winning an Obie Award for his performance in 1989’s Gus and Al. He also had many Broadway credits, including Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers (1991), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (2012), The Graduate (2002), and Twelve Angry Men (2004), with his most recent Broadway work coming in 2013 with Richard Greenberg’s The Assembled Parties. Judith Light, known best to TV viewers for her time on shows like Who's the Boss, Ugly Betty and Transparent, had the opportunity to work with Blum on stage, and also took her kind words about him to Twitter:
We've obviously seen several entertainers go public with their coronavirus diagnosis over the past few weeks, including Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Quantum of Solace actress Olga Kurylenko, Idris Elba and Daniel Dae Kim, who's been providing extensive updates on his symptoms, diagnosis and treatment via social media. While many of their recoveries seem to be going well, we have, unfortunately, seen people like Top Chef Masters winner Floyd Cardoz and Terrence McNally pass away from complications related to the virus.
Mark Blum was also well regarded for his work as an acting teacher, and was the Director of the Uta Hagen Institute’s Hagen Core Training at HB Studio in New York. According to Deadline, Blum is survived by his wife, Janet Zarish. Clearly, he will be missed. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.
