Hal Linden

Acting

Hal Linden

Born 1931-03-20 · New York City, New York, USA

Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz, March 20, 1931) is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician. His best-known role was as the title character in the television comedy series Barney Miller, for which he earned seven Primetime Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. Born in the Bronx, Linden was the son of Charles Lipshitz and Frances Rosen. His older brother would become a future professor of music at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Similarly musical, Hal took up classical clarinet in his late teens and played regularly with symphony orchestras. After graduating from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, he studied music at Queens College, moving later to City College to pursue business. Hal also played in dance bands and was asked to join Sammy Kaye on tour before being drafted into the Army, where he sang and provided entertainment for the troops. This sparked an interest in acting, and, upon receiving his discharge, he enrolled at New York's American Theatre Wing where he trained in voice and drama. In 1955, Hal met Frances Martin, a dancer. They married three years later, and she gave up her career to raise a family. Hal's first Broadway show was in "Bells Are Ringing" where he understudied lead Jeff Moss. During the 1960s, Hal accumulated more musical credits in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "Subways Are for Sleeping," "The Apple Tree" and "The Pajama Game." He won the 1971 Tony award for his role in "The Rothschilds." This particular stage success led to a TV career that culminated in the title role on the popular Barney Miller (1974) sitcom. Emmy-nominated every year the program aired, Hal became a household name. Since that time, he has appeared in other lesser TV series including Blacke's Magic (1986), and Jack's Place (1992). He has held a secondary presence in such films as A New Life (1988) and Out to Sea (1997). More musical leads such as "I Do! I Do!" and "The Pajama Game" came his way, along with dramatic pursuits in "I'm Not Rappaport" and "The Sisters Rosenzweig." Hal has also undertaken musical tours in his continuing role as clarinetist. He and wife Frances are avid golfers during their spare time.

Acting credits

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There poster
7.0

Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay filmed over 100 of the greatest stars ever to work on Broadway or in Hollywood. He soon learned that great films can be restored, fine literature can be kept in print - but historic Broadway performances of the past are the most endangered. They leave only memories that, while more vivid, are more difficult to preserve. In their own words — and not a moment too soon — Broadway: The Golden Age tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. This is the largest cast of legends ever in one film.

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

2003

You People poster
5.6

A new couple and their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations and generational differences.

You People

2023

That Man from Rio poster
7.3

French military man Adrien Dufourquet gets an eight-day furlough to visit his fiancée, Agnès. But when he arrives in Paris, he learns that her late father's partner, museum curator Professor Catalan, has just been kidnapped by a group of Amazon tribesmen who have also stolen a priceless statue from the museum. Adrien and Agnès pursue the kidnappers to Brazil, where they learn that the statue is the key to a hidden Amazon treasure.

That Man from Rio

1964

Out to Sea poster
5.8

Care-free Charlie cons his widower brother-in-law Herb into an expenses-paid luxury cruise in search of rich, lonely ladies. The catch is that they are required to be dance hosts! With a tyrannical cruise director, and the luscious Liz and lovely Vivian, our heroes have lots of mis-adventures before they finally return to port.

Out to Sea

1997

Night of 100 Stars II poster
6.8

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Night of 100 Stars II

1985

Time Changer poster
5.6

The year is 1890 and Bible professor Russell Carlisle has written a new manuscript entitled "The Changing Times". His colleague, Dr. Norris Anderson, believes that what Carlisle has written could greatly affect the future of coming generations and, using his secret time machine, Anderson sends Carlisle over 100 years into the future, offering him a glimpse of where his beliefs will lead.

Time Changer

2003

How to Break Up a Happy Divorce poster
10.0

A divorced woman comes up with a scheme to make her ex-husband jealous, so she can get him back.

How to Break Up a Happy Divorce

1976

The Grand Knockout Tournament poster
6.8

The Grand Knockout Tournament (colloquially also known as It's a Royal Knockout) was a one-off charity event which was shown on British television on 19 June 1987. It followed the format of It's a Knockout, a slapstick TV gameshow which was broadcast in the UK until 1982. The event was staged on the lakeside lawn of the Alton Towers stately home-cum-theme park.

The Grand Knockout Tournament

1987

Night of 100 Stars poster
5.8

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

Night of 100 Stars

1982

Night of 100 Stars III poster
4.3

A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.

Night of 100 Stars III

1990

Grand-Daddy Day Care poster
5.8

A man has to figure out a way to make extra money when his father-in-law moves in.

Grand-Daddy Day Care

2019

Bells Are Ringing poster
6.5

Ella Peterson works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities for her clients. They include an out-of-work Method actor, a dentist with musical yearnings, and in particular playwright Jeffrey Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and desperately needs a muse.

Bells Are Ringing

1960

The Other Woman poster
4.6

After losing his wife of 28 years in a skiing accident, widower Lou Chadway (Hal Linden) falls for and marries his daughter's sexy roommate but soon learns that he has absolutely nothing in common with her. Peg Gilford (Anne Meara) is a divorced grandmother who comes along to take Lou's mind off her and they embark on a secret love affair.

The Other Woman

1983

All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra poster
6.0

A Celebration of the great life of Frank Sinatra with song, dance, and many famous guests.

All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra

1983

The Love Boat poster
9.0

The adventures of the passengers and crew aboard a luxury liner on a cruise from California to Mexico.

The Love Boat

1976

Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land poster
5.0

Starflight One, a commercial aircraft that can whisk passengers around the globe in a matter of hours, embarks on its maiden voyage. The trip goes horribly awry, however, when the aircraft is forced out of the atmosphere and into outer space. As it is too dangerous to attempt reentry, Captain Cody Briggs, his passengers and his crew brave declining levels of oxygen while NASA scientists scramble to launch a rescue mission in a race against time.

Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land

1983

Off Broadway poster
NR

The year is 2020 and the American theater is shut down… but it is not shut off. Off Broadway follows the staff of a non-profit theater as they come together on Zoom and scramble to stave off extinction. The show is a scathing critique of an industry desperately trying to reinvent itself in the midst of a pandemic.

Off Broadway

2021

I Love Liberty poster
NR

An all-star variety special saluting America.

I Love Liberty

1982

Micro Budget poster
8.0

A mockumentary about an absolute moron attempting to make an independent film.

Micro Budget

2026

James Bond: The First 21 Years poster
6.7

A look back at the first 21 years of Britain's most successful film series.

James Bond: The First 21 Years

1983

A New Life poster
4.2

Steve Giardino, an abrasive workaholic Wall Streeter, and his wife Jackie divorce after twenty-six years of marriage and find themselves thrust back into the dating world in middle age and in search of a new life.

A New Life

1988

Father Figure poster
7.0

Following their parents' divorce and their mother's subsequent suicide, a teenager and his younger brother are resentful of having to live with the father from whom they have long been estranged, and the struggle to reestablish a relationship is explored.

Father Figure

1980

Merv poster
10.0

Following his latest romantic humiliation, Simon is unexpectedly summoned to his grandmother's house to meet her new boyfriend, Merv. The man he encounters there upends his understanding of love, loss, and Chinese takeout.

Merv

2023

Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside poster
7.0

Two New York City cops investigate a drug-smuggling ring that they believe is run by New York-based foreign diplomats.

Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside

1973