Pat Harrington Jr., played Schneider on ‘One Day at a Time’, dies at 86

Pat Harrington Jr., played Schneider on ‘One Day at a Time‘,  dies at 86

Pat Harrington, Jr., was an American voice, stage, and television actor most popularly known for his role as building superintendent “Schneider” on the CBS sitcom One Day at a Time. His father, Pat Harrington, Sr., was also an actor.

Harrington, who was battling Alzheimer’s Disease, fell in early November, 2015. He suffered a small brain hemorrhage and spent three weeks in a hospital and nursing home. Harrington died January 6, 2016. His daughters Terry and Tresa announced his passing on their Facebook pages.

Harrington was born Daniel Patrick Harrington, Jr., in New York City, New York. His father was a song and dance man who worked in vaudeville and performed on the Broadway stage. In 1950, Harrington graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. and subsequently received a master’s degree in political philosophy, also from Fordham. During the Korean War, Harrington served as an Intelligence Officer with the United States Air Force, where he achieved the rank of First Lieutenant.

In 1985, after 30 years of marriage, Harrington divorced wife Marjorie Ann Gortner. He has four children and four grandchildren.

Career

Following in his father’s footsteps, Harrington pursued a career in entertainment after graduating from college and completing military service. He took a job at NBC in New York City. He then began acting on stage and toured North America with a number of plays, eventually performing on Broadway.

Harrington became famous in the 1950s as a member of Steve Allen’s TV comedy troupe, the “Men on the Street” (which also included Don Knotts, Tom Poston, and Louis Nye). Harrington also gained considerable recognition for his many appearances as the comedic Italian immigrant “Guido Panzini” on The Jack Paar Show in the mid-1950s.

In the late 1950s, he had a recurring role on Danny Thomas’s CBS sitcom, Make Room for Daddy.

In the 1964–1965 television season, he guest-starred on numerous programs, including ABC’s sitcom The Bing Crosby Show and NBC’s Kentucky Jones (starring Dennis Weaver). In a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (“The Bow-Wow Affair”), Harrington reprised his role as “Guido Panzini” (who he also played in the February 8, 1966 episode of McHale’s Navy and in the May 2, 1983 episode of One Day At A Time).

That same year he appeared as Thomas Kelly in the unusually-titled episode, “There’s a Penguin in My Garden”, of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus.

In 1967, he appeared in the Elvis Presley film Easy Come, Easy Go. He also parodied Get Smart in an episode of F-Troop, in which he played secret agent “B Wise”.

Harrington worked as a voice actor, most notably providing the voice of The Inspector from 1965 to 1969 in the theatrical cartoon series of the same name. He was also the voice of Ray Palmer/the Atom on The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967. In 1974, he co-starred with Peter Falk and Robert Conrad in the Columbo episode An Exercise in Fatality.

However, Harrington is also widely known for his role as affable building superintendent “Dwayne Schneider” on the 1975–1984 television sitcom One Day at a Time. He won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his work on this series. He reprised his role as Schneider in a series of commercials in the late 1980s for Trak Auto Parts after the show ended. He appeared in an episode of The King of Queens in 2006.

In 2012, Harrington also appeared as a guest star on the TV Land sitcom, Hot In Cleveland, which stars Valerie Bertinelli, a co-star of One Day at a Time.

From 1965-1969, Harrington portrayed the voices of both Inspector Jacques Clouseau and his Spanish Gendarmes sidekick Deux Deux in all of the original 34 animated episodes of “The Inspector” which were created by Mirisch Films and DePatie-Freleng and released via United Artists. They were later shown as part of the Pink Panther cartoon TV show. Harrington was also known for his uncanny impersonation of entertainer Lawrence Welk.

Awards

1980: Golden Globe Award – Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – One Day at a Time
1984: Primetime Emmy Award – Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – One Day at a Time