C. Aidman; Character Actor on TV
Charles Aidman, the often-seen, often-heard but little-known character actor whose sophisticated and measured tones provided him with appearances in more than 400 television programs and countless commercial voice-overs, died Sunday in Beverly Hills.
A family spokeswoman said Aidman was 68 and died of the complications of cancer at his home.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Nov. 13, 1993 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday November 13, 1993 Home Edition Part A Page 28 Column 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Aidman obituary--The Nov. 8 obituary of actor-director Charles Aidman incorrectly credited him with writing both music and lyrics to a musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology.” Aidman wrote the lyrics but the music was composed by Naomi Caryl Hirshhorn.
The veteran supporting actor appeared in one of the earliest and eeriest “Twilight Zone” episodes in 1959, then returned to narrate a revival of the series in 1985.
In the 1959 episode titled “And When the Sky Opened,” Aidman played an astronaut who vanished.
He also appeared in many crime dramas, sitcoms and Westerns over the years, including “Quincy, M.E.,” “The Fugitive,” “M.A.S.H,” “Gunsmoke” and “Little House on the Prairie.” More often than not he was cast as a villain, gunman or psychotic.
Aidman’s appearances in television movies included the 1973 mini-series “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” and “The Red Badge of Courage.”
His career began in 1957 on the New York stage when he played the lead in “Career.” He continued to perform on the stage throughout his life.
When he came to Hollywood, he helped found Theater West, where one of his projects was to develop the free-verse poems of Edgar Lee Masters into a play, writing the music and lyrics himself.
Aidman received an Emmy nomination for acting in the 1969 television adaptation of Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology,” based on the poet’s observations of a small Illinois town near the turn of the century. The production originally was performed by the Theater Group at UCLA and then moved to Broadway.
Arthur Miller cast Aidman as Quentin, the lead in the national touring company production of “After the Fall,” Miller’s account of his failed marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Aidman toured with the show for a year, playing the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles in 1965. More recently he was seen as the defense attorney in the 1982 stage production of “Zoot Suit.”
He also narrated commercials for USAir, Toyota, Sanwa Bank, Minolta and American Airlines.
Aidman is survived by his wife, Betty, and a stepson, Chuck.
Memorial services are scheduled at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park.
The complete guide to home viewing
Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
