FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, an Oscar statue is seen on the red carpet before the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says the golden statuette will visit at least 10 cities as part of its first national tour. Beginning Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in New York City, the golden guy’s journey will be chronicled online. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
'Taxi Driver' character actor Switkes dies in Md.
Published: 11:21:13 PM, Mon 11 March 2013 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — A character actor who had minor roles in "Tootsie," ''Taxi Driver" and dozens of other films has died. Willy Switkes (SWIT'-kehs) was 83.
His niece Ellen Switkes says he died of colon cancer on Thursday at a hospice in Rockville, Md.
Willy Switkes was a native of Washington, D.C., and a longtime New York City resident. He appeared in Broadway productions of "The Cherry Orchard" and "A Thousand Clowns" and was an understudy to Buster Keaton during a 1960 tour of "Once Upon a Mattress." His other films include "The French Connection" and "Bananas."
His characters often were unidentified, such as his "man at cab" credit for "Tootsie," in which he's thrown from a taxi after trying to cut in front of title character Dustin Hoffman.
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