Deadline is reporting that actor Peter Scolari, mainly known for his role alongside Tom Hanks in the 1980 TV comedy Bosom Buddies, passed away early this morning after a two-year-long fight with cancer. Scolari was 66 years of age at the time of his passing. This sad news on an already sad morning was confirmed by Scolari’s manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky at Wright Entertainment.
Peter Scolari’s Life
Peter Thomas Scolari was born on September 12, 1955, in New Rochelle, New York. He grew up in a precarious home with his rageful, abusive father and his alcoholic mother. “They stayed together for the kids and also because they were hopelessly in love with each other, but they were totally incompatible,” Scolari said about them in an interview with the Toronto Star.
His first break into the business was when he was cast in a short-lived, 1980s, television series Goodtime Girls. After that show wasn’t picked up for a second season he moved on to Bosom Buddies alongside an unknown actor at the time, Tom Hanks. They played a pair of single men who would have to dress up as women to stay in an inexpensive, all-women hotel. After the show’s two-season run, Scolari would appear on other television shows like; Remington Steele, Happy Days, The Love Boat, and Newhart. He and Hanks have been lifelong friends ever since their run on Bosom Buddies.
Scolari also made appearances in Broadway plays Bronx Bombers, Hairspray, Sly Fox, Wicked, and reteamed with Hanks for 2013’s Lucky Guy, the biographical drama about newspaper journalist Mike McAlary. He has also appeared in films The Polar Express and That Thing You Do alongside Tom Hanks.
Previously nominated for 3 Emmys for his supporting role in Newhart, he finally won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series in 2016 for his role as Tad Horvath, father of the titular character, Hannah, on Lena Dunham’s Girls television series for HBO. His most recent work includes his role in the upcoming second season of Evil.
Bosom Buddies actor Peter Scolari is survived by his wife, Tracy Shayne, and his four children.
