Michael Constantine of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' dies at 94

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

Michael Constantine, an Emmy Award-winning character actor who reached worldwide fame playing the Windex bottle-toting father of the bride in the 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” has died. He was 94.

Constantine died Aug. 31 at his home in Reading, Pennsylvania, of natural causes, his family said. The news was confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday by his agent, Julia Buchwald.

Constantine made appearances on such TV shows as “My Favorite Martian,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Fugitive,” “Quincy, M.E.,” “The Love Boat,” “Remington Steele,” “MacGyver” and “Murder, She Wrote.” His big break came in the role of a principal on “Room 222,” an ABC comedy-drama set in a racially diverse Los Angeles high school, for which he won an Emmy for outstanding performance by an actor in a supporting role in 1970.

But he became best known for his work in the indie comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which centered on a middle-class Greek American woman who falls in love with an upper-middle-class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Constantine reprised his role on the TV series “My Big Fat Greek Life” and in the 2016 film, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.”



FILE - Michael Constantine attends the premiere of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2"in New York on March 15, 2016. Constantine, an Emmy Award-winning character actor who reached worldwide fame playing the Windex bottle-toting father of the bride in the 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” died Aug. 31 in his home at Reading, Pennsylvania, of natural causes. He was 94. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-dick-van-dyke-weddings-099fefa7cb1a7a8a4b17d5bc7f290c55

[ZonkerHarris]

1. There was a Michael Constantine episode of almost every TV series I ever watched growing up.

Dramas, comedies, he was in them all.
I always loved it every time he came onscreen whether it was as a principled principal or a lonely tourist in IF IT'S TUESDAY IT MUST BE BELGIUM, or a Windex loving dad in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING.
I remember him best from ROOM 222 but there was that Hogan's Heroes episode he did, and that Mission Impossible, and those three episodes of THE FUGITIVE where he played three different characters over three seasons.
That's how you can tell he was liked in Hollywood.
All the credits where the shows had him back again and again.
Heck, he played three different characters on QUINCY M.E. and then they had him back a fourth time to play the 2nd character a second time.
That says something about the man and the actor.
RIP Michael Constantine, and thank you.

[CrispyQ]

3. Room 222 was my first recollection of him, too.

But I remember him in many other shows, too. Thanks for that info on him. I wasn't aware of his repeat appearances.

RIP, Mr. Constantine.

[underpants]

4. See my post IMDB below. WOW you are right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Constantine

. In 1964 and 1965, Constantine appeared on Perry Mason, both times as the murderer.

[sybylla]

14. Yep.

I loved him in everything, but most especially Room 222.

RIP indeed.

[underpants]

2. 182 Acting credits on IMDB. Going back to 1959.

https://www.imdb.com/filmosearch?role=nm0176073&job_type=actor

[eissa]

5. "Didn't I say it was a mistake to educate the women?"

My daughter and I use that line (and so many others from that film) whenever a woman makes a valid point or wins an argument. It never gets old! One of my favorite movies of all time.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Oh no!

I didn't even know he was still around. I remember Room 222.

Didn't realize he lived in Reading, PA either. They got hit with Ida flooding last week.

Damn. R.I.P.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Room 222 was a great series.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Everytime I see a reference to it

I automatically say "And young Karen Valentine" at the end.

[AngryOldDem]

12. My 8th grade social studies/Am history teacher was exactly like Pete Dixon.

Got kids interested in the subject and current events, and let us have all kinds of discussions, and let us think for ourselves. Best teacher I think I ever had. Room 222 was on in my late junior high years and it got me excited for high school…until I actually got there.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. LOL

I was in junior high during the later years of it, but what ended up happening was that its format segued to "high school" sitcoms like "Welcome Back Kotter", which ran the 4 years I was in high school, and since the latter show was "east coast" vs Room 222's "west coast", it seemed to resonate more here.

[OriginalGeek]

16. wow that theme song brought me back

and I remembered when I first fell in love with Karen Valentine. I wasn't old enough to really even understand what the show was about but I remember watching it and being in love.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. What's funny about Karen Valentine

is that other than a few guest starring roles, she really wasn't in that much else. That show was basically her claim to fame.

[gohuskies]

7. RIP Mr. Constantine

A superb character actor whose work speaks for itself. I loved Room 222. It aired when i entered high school and had great writers who struck a chord with me. Thanks for all the memories Michael Constantine.

[abqtommy]

8. + 100 Yup...

[2naSalit]

9. ...

[keithbvadu2]

15. Thinner... White man from town

[area51]

18. RIP Mr. Constantine

[BeyondGeography]

19. Great to see so many Room 222 fans here

Michael Constantine added little pearls of wisdom and perspective to that show. He was perfect; his heart and head just where it needed to be. Qualities that couldn’t have just come from a script.