Wesley Addy; Actor in Stage, Movies, TV

Wesley Addy, whose acting credits ranged from Shakespeare to Broadway, Hollywood and television soap operas, has died in Danbury, Conn. He was 83.

He died Dec. 31 at a Danbury hospital of an undisclosed illness.

After majoring in economics at UCLA, Addy launched his stage career in 1935 in Archibald MacLeish’s play “Panic,” which featured a young Orson Welles.

His Shakespearean roles included a stint as Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet,” alongside Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

He served in the Army during World War II, and returned to acting after the war ended, appearing with Katherine Cornell in “Antigone” and with Marlon Brando in “Candida.”

Addy spent most of the 1940s and ‘50s on Broadway, playing leading roles in the Jed Harris production of “The Traitor,” by Herman Wouk; “Another Part of the Forest,” by Lillian Hellman, and Louis Callhern’s production of “King Lear.”

He often starred opposite his wife, actress Celeste Holm, sharing the stage with her in Arthur Laurents’ “Invitation to a March” and Turgenev’s “Month in the Country,” which they did off-Broadway.

Addy’s film credits included “The First Legion” in 1951, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” in 1962, “Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte” in 1964, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” in 1970 and “Before and After” in 1996, starring Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson.

Addy even played in soap operas, as a doctor in “The Edge of Night” and “Days of Our Lives.”

He is survived by his wife.