Peter Scolari

Peter Thomas Scolari (September 12, 1955 – October 22, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Henry Desmond on Bosom Buddies (1980–1982), Michael Harris on Newhart (1984–1990), and Wayne Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997–2000). Scolari received three Emmy nominations for his work on Newhart and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his recurring role as Tad Horvath on Girls in 2016. Early life Scolari was born in New Rochelle, New York, to Arthur and Barbara (née Fay) Scolari, and was raised in Scarsdale along with an older sister and two younger brothers. His father was of Italian descent and played semi-professional baseball before becoming a lawyer. His mother was a singer prior to meeting Scolari's father and later worked with the Alcohol Rehabilitation arm of the Tidewater Psychiatric Institute in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In an interview with the Toronto Star Scolari said that his father was a psychologically abusive, "rageful man", and that his mother struggled with alcoholism. Scolari added that his parents "stayed together for the kids and also because they were hopelessly in love with each other, but they were totally incompatible." At the age of 13 Scolari did some animation voice acting work and performed in plays while attending Edgemont High School in Scarsdale, where he also participated in football, baseball and track. At 16 years of age he starred as Finch in a high school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and came to the realization that he wanted to be an actor professionally.