Bernard Pollock, 96, Stage Manager
Bernard Pollock, an actor and stage manager on Broadway who divided his time between New York City and East Hampton, died in Manhattan on Sept. 14 after a long illness. He was 96.
Mr. Pollock had been a child actor on the radio program known as “The Horn and Hardart Children’s Hour” in his hometown of Philadelphia and followed the theater for the rest of his active life. After moving to New York as a young man, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts while supporting himself as a night clerk in hotels and in the box office of dance halls, including Roseland, where he sold “dime a dance” tickets.
He found success on Broadway as a stage manager rather than an actor, however, for such plays as “The Odd Couple,” with Walter Matthau and Art Carney, “Will Rogers’s U.S.A.” with James Whitmore, “Norman, Is That You?” a play that was later made into a movie, “Sweet Bird of Youth” with Geraldine Page, “Stop the World — I Want to Get Off” with Sammy Davis Jr., and many more. He also had a small role in “Network,” a 1976 film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet.
In 1960, when he was the stage manager of Brendan Behan’s play “The Hostage,” he met Beulah Garrick, an actress who was in the cast. They married in 1961.
During his theater career, Mr. Pollock was a member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. He also was an active member of the Players Club, telling his peers that he had gotten invaluable experience at the Robert Porterfield Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va.
He was born on May 16, 1920, in Philadelphia to David Polak and the former Sara Fine. His parents and a brother and sister died before him.
After serving in World War II as an Army Air Corps radio operator on seaplanes patrolling the North Sea, Mr. Pollock took advantage of the G.I. Bill of Rights to attend well-known language schools in Paris and Rome, becoming proficient enough to impress Parisian and Roman waiters when he later traveled in Europe with his wife.
The couple built a house in Northwest Woods in East Hampton, taking up residence in 1968. When he was no longer quite himself, Ms. Garrick said, he would sit at the back of the house, which they called the English cottage, and gaze at his wife’s garden. He said to her toward the end of his life, “Honey, you have created for us such a paradise.”
They entertained a lot, celebrating Christmas and Boxing Day with a wide circle of friends. “Oh, such glorious memories of those years,” Ms. Garrick said. They supported environmental causes and, in addition to reading The New York Times cover to cover and The East Hampton Star, Mr. Pollock spent time walking and watching birds. He loved swimming in the ocean, Ms. Garrick said, adding, “He was like a dolphin in the water, very graceful.”
Mr. Pollock was also passionate about traveling. He and Ms. Garrick traveled to England often, to see her family, as well as to China, East Africa, and Europe. “He was a wonderfully good husband, a fine man,” Ms. Garrick said. “I could not have asked for a better companion.”
In addition to Ms. Garrick, who continues to live here and in the city, Mr. Pollock is survived by three nephews. A celebration of his life will be held in New York at a later date.
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