
Orson Bean | 1928 - 2020
Actor Orson Bean, local theater mainstay who rose to fame as a 1950s TV personality, dies at 91.

Actor Orson Bean and his wife, actress Alley Mills, attend “The Equalizer 2" premiere in Hollywood in July 2018. (Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images)

Orson Bean and wife Alley Mills in their frontyard garden in Venice. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

Orson Bean as Scrooge, with Jessie Clemens as Mudlark, in a 1998 production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice. (Perry C. Riddle / Los Angeles Times)

Alley Mills and Orson Bean star in the Pacific Resident Theatre’s 2007 production of William Alfred’s play “Hogan’s Goat.” (Vitor Martins / Pacific Resident Theatre)
Orson Bean in “Death of the Author” at Geffen Playhouse. (Michael Lamont / Geffen Playhouse)

Orson Bean banters with host Johnny Carson during “The Tonight Show” in May 1991. (Alice S. Hall / NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Orson Bean and Elizabeth Karr in the play “Uncle Vanya” at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles. (Becky Meister / Classical Theatre Lab)
Orson Bean in April 2014. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)