Hal Linden

Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz, March 20, 1931) is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician. Linden began his career as a big band musician and singer in the 1950s. After a stint in the United States Army, he began an acting career, first working in summer stock and off-Broadway productions. Linden found success on Broadway when he replaced Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing. In 1962, he starred as Billy Crocker in the off-Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes. In 1971, he won a Best Actor Tony Award for his portrayal of Mayer Rothschild in the musical The Rothschilds. In 1974, Linden landed his best-known role as the title character in the television comedy series Barney Miller. The role earned him seven Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Award nominations. During the series' run, Linden also hosted two educational series, Animals, Animals, Animals and FYI. He won two special Daytime Emmy Awards for the latter series. Linden won a third Daytime Emmy Award for a guest-starring role on CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1995. Linden has since continued his career on the stage, in films and guest-starring roles on television. He released his first album of pop and jazz standards, It's Never Too Late, in 2011. Early life Hal Linden was born on March 20, 1931, in The Bronx, New York City, New York, the youngest son of Frances (née Rosen) and Charles Lipshitz, a Lithuanian Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1910 and owned his own printing shop. Hal's older brother, Bernard, became a professor of music at Bowling Green State University. Linden attended Herman Ridder Junior High School and the High School of Music and Art, going on to study music at Queens College, City University of New York. He later enrolled in Baruch College and then City College of New York where he received a Bachelor of Arts in business.