He was Felix Unger opposite Demond Wilson’s Oscar Madison in The New Odd Couple, a 1980s reboot of the original Broadway show, film and television series that this time cast black actors in the lead roles of Unger’s prissy neat freak forced to share an apartment with slovenly friend Madison.
Glass was also the voice of Randy Carmichael, the genial neighbor and father of four children in the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series Rugrats and its spinoff, All Grown Up.
He also made appearances in such shows as Friends, Star Trek: Voyager and Designing Women. More recently he appeared in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Early credits included All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son and Hawaii Five-0.
In Barney Miller his literate Detective Ron Harris was one of the few generally normal characters who populated a New York City police precinct filled with oddballs on both sides of the law. The ensemble cast included Hal Linden as precinct Capt. Barney Miller, Max Gail as Detective Stan ‘Wojo’ Wojciehowicz, and Abe Vidgoda as Detective Phil Fish.
The show aired from 1975 until 1982, winning two Golden Globes and two Emmy Awards for best comedy series. Glass was nominated for a supporting actor Emmy in 1982.
Raised in Evansville, Indiana, Glass received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and literature from the University of Evansville.
After graduation he moved to Minneapolis where he worked in regional theater before coming to Los Angeles to launch his TV and film career.
He was also a member of the board of directors for Los Angeles’ AL Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, an organization named for a man murdered in a gang-initiation drive-by shooting and dedicated to helping inner-city youth stay safe and receive an education.
Information on funeral services and survivors was not immediately available.
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