You probably know Dan Castellaneta as the voice of some yellow-faced donut-eating TV character. I knew him first as one of the best comic actors on a stage or screen. He sent me this…
Dick Schaal is one of the few great character actors that I met that you haven't. I of course remember Dick from all those shows and was always delighted to see him show up in anything else. He was one of the many legendary and actors to come out of Second City and the Broadway hit, Story Theater. Amongst the improv community he is most noted for his physical work. Somebody once said in an improvisation Dick could create forty-six objects in a scene and remember where each of those items were.
Ironically in the last ten to fifteen years, this great physical actor was confined to a wheel chair. I don't remember exactly why other than he went in for a routine operation and complications set in causing him to gradually lose the use of his lower body. But he remained incredibly, energetic, spirited, enthusiastic and still taught improvisation. My wife and I had the great fortune to take a master class with him teaching improvisation. Not only did we enjoy participating but we got to witness him improvise a wordless scene. It was extraordinary. Out of nothing, he created a whole room and you could see all the things in that room. All done from a wheel chair. Not only did he teach us how to be present in improvisation, theater, and acting, but how to be present in life.