
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 26, 1990                   TAG: 9005260085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE: GLENDALE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

ACTOR VIC TAYBACK, `ALICE' SERIES' MEL, DIES OF HEART ATTACK

Vic Tayback, the actor best known as the gruff diner owner and cook Mel Sharples in the television comedy "Alice," died Friday of a heart attack at his Los Angeles area home.

Tayback, 60, had a history of heart trouble and underwent triple bypass surgery in 1983.

Tayback was the only cast member of the 1975 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More" to star in the situation-comedy "Alice," which was based on the film. He portrayed Mel, whose penny-pinching and poor cooking were a running joke on the show, which ran from 1976 to 1985.

"I'm just devastated. I loved Vic very dearly and my heart goes out to Sheila and [their son] Chris," said actress Polly Holliday, who co-starred with Tayback as the wise-cracking waitress Flo on "Alice."

Tayback played supporting roles in a number of other films, including "Papillon," "Bullitt" and "The Choirboys." His television movie credits include "They Call It Murder" (1971), "The Night the City Screamed" (1980), "The Jesse Owens Story" (1984) and "The Three Kings" (1987).

In the 1960s, he co-founded the Company of Angels theater group with Sally Kellerman and Richard Chamberlain in Los Angeles' Silver Lake area. He was a member of the Actor's Studio for 20 years.

After the "Alice" series ended in 1985, Tayback starred in such plays as "12 Angry Men," "Death of a Salesman" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., of Syrian parents, Tayback attended Glendale Community College and the Frederick A. Speare School of Radio and TV Broadcasting. Before turning to acting full time, he was a bank teller and a cab driver.

"Everybody loved him," said Fred Amsel, Tayback's agent and friend of 20 years. "He was a first-class guy. He was a very compassionate man. He always had his hand out to help other people, and he always spoke his mind."

Funeral services are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Incarnation Church in Glendale. Burial will be Wednesday at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Hollywood.

by CNB