Andrew Rubin

Andrew Rubin, 69, American actor and comedian (Police Academy, Mary Hartman), lung cancer.

Andrew Rubin, a veteran actor whose credits include the features Police Academy and Casey’s Shadow and TV’s Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, has died. He was 69. His manager Joan Sittenfield told Deadline that Rubin died October 5 of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

A native of New Bedford, MA, Rubin graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He moved to California after landing a commercial campaign and began doing guest roles on such hit TV series as Ironside, Cannon, The Streets Of San Francisco, The Odd Couple, S.W.A.T. and The Jeffersons. In 1976, he recurred on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the popular faux soap opera starring Louise Lasser.

His first major film role was as Walter Matthau’s oldest son in the 1978 horse racing drama Casey’s Shadow. In 1981, Rubin landed his first series-regular gig in the CBS drama Jessica Novak, which only lasted four episodes. Three years later, he scored a role in the hit comedy feature Police Academy playing cadet George Martin, who pretends to be a Latin Lothario to get women.

Rubin then landed another regular TV role, playing a rock star with an unhappy personal life in CBS’ Hometown. The Big Chill-like dramedy starring Jane Kaczmarek ran for 10 episodes in 1985. The following season, Rubin co-starred in the ABC dramedy series Joe Bash, playing the enthusiastic young partner of a veteran NYPD cop (Peter Boyle) trying to cruise to his pension. It lasted for six episodes. Rubin continued to work in TV, film and theater and in 1998 appeared in Tom Hanks’ sprawling HBO miniseries From The Earth To The Moon. He played Jules Bergman, the ABC Newsman who reported on deaths of three Apollo 1 astronauts in 1967.

After that, Rubin took nearly 15 years off from acting while running several nonprofit humanitarian organizations. He is survived by his wife, Lauren, and brother Richard.

http://deadline.com/