THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING JOHN HEARD

From the Associated Press:

Actor John Heard, whose many roles included the father in the "Home Alone" series and a corrupt detective in "The Sopranos," has died. He was 71 .

Heard was found dead Friday at a Palo Alto hotel, the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office said Saturday.

An investigation, which includes a toxicology test, is underway to determine the cause of his death, but there is so far no evidence of foul play, the office said.

TMZ reported that a representative for Heard said he was staying in the hotel while he recovered from back surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

The first time I ever saw Heard was in the movie "Between The Lines" and he vaulted into my Top Ten actors list.  The funny thing is, it's mostly for his movies I like him best - This includes "Cutter's Way", "Chilly Scenes of Winter", "Cat People", "C.H.U.D.", and even the small cameos in "The Pelican Brief" and "In The Line Of Fire".  Yeah, okay, I suppose "Home Alone" as well but there wasn't enough of him in there.

As time marched on, Heard graduated to the fate of many older actors - parents of established characters and politicians.  He lent himself well to the white collar role - one of my favorites was his reunion with Lindsay Crouse from "Between The Lines" in an episode of 'Law & Order' (not that it worked out well between them.)

I'm going to miss him but I have "Between The Lines" in my DVD collection and I think "Cutter's Way" should join it.  

Good night and may god bless Harry Lucas and Alex Cutter.....

And as we are a Toobworld oriented blog, here is a list of John Heard's TV roles:

TV SERIES

Outsiders
Lt. Governor of Kentucky
- What Must Be Done (2017)

APB
Joe
- Daddy's Home (2017)

 NCIS: Los Angeles
Special Congressional Investigator Michael Thomas

3 episodes

Mistresses
Bruce Sappire
- Coming Clean (2014)

Person of Interest
Congressman Roger McCourt
- Death Benefit (2014)

Modern Family
Gunther Thorpe
- The Feud (2014)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Roger Ridley
- Love for Sale (2014)

Adam Devine's House Party
Dregory
- Dregory (2013)

Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories
Lawyer
- Haunted House (2013)

Perception
Congressman Evan Rickford

2 episodes

The Chicago Code
Mayor McGuinness

2 episodes

Entourage
Richard Wimmer

2 episodes

Gravity
B.C.
3 episodes

Southland
Ben Sherman Sr.
2 episodes

The Beast
Dr. Blake
- Mercy (2009)

My Own Worst Enemy
Peter
- Down Rio Way (2008)

Cavemen
Tripp
2 episodes

Numb3rs
Peter Houseman
- Soft Target (2005)

Jack & Bobby
Dennis Morgenthal
5 episodes

CSI: Miami
Kenwall 'Duke' Duquesne
4 episodes

The Sopranos
Det. Vin Makazian
5 episodes

Hack
Paul 'Webster' Ballinger
- Songs in the Night (2002)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Peter Sipes / Gregory Rossovitch
- Disappearing Acts (2002)
 
Touched by an Angel
Allen Lowry
- Secrets and Lies (2002)

Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Larry Wiegert
- The Pardoner's Tale (2001)

Law & Order
Walter Grobman / Mitch Burke
- DNR (1999) ... Walter Grobman
- Doubles (1994) ... Mitch Burke

The Client
Roy Foltrigg
21 episodes

The Outer Limits
Paul Stein
- Dark Matters (1995)

American Masters
Montresor (segment "The Cask of Amontillado")
- Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul (1995)

Screen Two
Michael Johnson
- Virtuoso (1989)

The Equalizer
Ron Parrish
- In the Money (1987)

Miami Vice
Laurence Thurmond
- One Way Ticket (1986)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Bill Callahan
- Breakdown (1985)

Tales from the Darkside
Billy Malone
- Ring Around the Redhead (1985)

Kate & Allie
Max McArdle
- A Weekend to Remember (1984)

TV MOVIES
Legs
Dan

Generation Gap
Principal Winters

Skip Tracer
Con Colbert

Too Big to Fail
Joe Gregory

The Line-Up
Walter Clark

Twenty Questions
C. Collin Whitworth

Locusts
Dr. Peter Axelrod

Word of Honor
Dr. Steven Brandt
 
The Quickening
Ed Erlich

The Pilot's Wife
Jack Lyons

Monday Night Mayhem
Roone Arledge

The Big Heist
Richard Woods

Because Mommy Works
Ted Forman

In Spite of Love
Andrew

The Wednesday Woman
Bill Davidson

Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder
Larry Mason

There Was a Little Boy
Gregg

Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster
Dan Lawn - State of Alaska

Blown Away
Charlie

Cross of Fire
David 'D.C.' Stephenson

Necessity
Charlie

Will There Really Be a Morning?
Clifford Odets

Valley Forge
Mr. Harvie

ALTERNATE TOOBWORLDS
Prison Break: Resurrection
Governor Frank Tancredi
10 episodes

Battlestar Galactica
Commander Barry Garner
- The Captain's Hand (2006)

Sharknado
George

MacGyver
Arthur Ericson
- Pliers (2016)

Elementary
Henry Watson
- Miss Taken (2016)

MINI-SERIES
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
William Almy

Tender Is the Night
Abe North

The Scarlet Letter
Arthur Dimmesdale

Out on a Limb
David Manning

UNDETERMINED
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Johnny Boy (voice, unconfirmed)

BCnU......