C. Lampkin; Veteran Actor and Educator

Character actor Charles Lampkin, who played the bartender in the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful “Frank’s Place” television series and had guest spots on scores of other shows, has died in San Jose at age 76.

Lampkin, an educator as well as an actor, died Monday after what was described by family spokesman Bill Barron as a lengthy illness. The Associated Press quoted a spokeswoman at Lampkin’s agent’s office as saying that heart failure was the apparent cause of death.

“He was a musician as well as an actor and a very large and vocal exponent of education and knowledge,” Barron said of Lampkin. “That was one of the first things he told young actors: ‘You can’t go anywhere without knowledge.’ ”

Lampkin was a lecturer at the University of Santa Clara and at University of the Pacific, teaching dramatic arts and ethnic music.

Lampkin may have been best known as bartender Tiger Shepin on “Frank’s Place.” The CBS series, a critical hit but low in the ratings, was canceled just before shooting was to have begun for its second season.

Among Lampkin’s other credits for television were “227,” “Night Court,” “Hunter,” “Highway to Heaven,” “The Jeffersons,” “Webster,” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” “It Takes a Thief” and “That Girl.”

He also had appearances in feature films, including “Cocoon,” “SOB,” “Hello Dolly,” “The Great White Hope,” “Toys in the Attic” and “Watermelon Man.”

Born in Cleveland, Lampkin graduated from John Carroll University and the Cleveland School of Music. He learned acting at the Cleveland Playhouse.