Howard da Silva, Actor, Director, Producer, Dies at 76

Howard da Silva, an actor, director and producer best known for originating the role of Benjamin Franklin in the Broadway musical “1776” and later portraying him in the film version, died Sunday at his home here of cancer. He was 76.

He won Academy Award nominations for best supporting actor in the 1940s for his roles as the bartender in “Lost Weekend” and the villainous captain in “Two Years Before the Mast.” In 1978, he won an Emmy for outstanding performance by a supporting player in “Verna: U.S.O. Girl.”

A Cleveland native who was raised in the Bronx, Da Silva worked in Pittsburgh steel mills to pay his way through Carnegie Tech.

He made his New York stage debut in 1928 and had played 40 different roles by the time he left six years later. Da Silva moved to the Cleveland Playhouse, where he directed and starred in several plays.

In 1936, he made his film debut as a White Russian general in “Once in a Blue Moon.”

On his return to New York, he became associated with Orson Welles’s Mercury Theater company. He also appeared in the plays, “Golden Boy,” “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” “Two on an Island,” “Burning Bright,” “The Adding Machine,” “Volpone” and “Compulsion.”

Da Silva was blacklisted in 1951, after appearing as an unfriendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

He appeared in more than 40 movies, including “Unconquered,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Mommie Dearest.” His last film appearance was in “Garbo Talks.”

Da Silva is survived by his wife, Nancy; two sons, Peter and Daniel; three daughters, Rachel, Judith and Margaret, and a granddaughter.