Charles Nolte, Broadway’s Billy Budd, Dies at 87

Charles Nolte, an actor, playwright and educator, has died of prostate cancer in Minneapolis, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He was 87.

Nolte made his Broadway debut in a production of Antony and Cleopatra that starred Katherine Cornell and also featured Charlton Heston, Maureen Stapleton and Tony Randall. His other Broadway credits include the title role in Billy Budd in 1951 and the original production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.

On screen, he appeared in films such as War Paint, The Vikings, The Steel Cage, Ten Seconds to Hell, and Under Ten Flags.

In the 1960s, Nolte turned to playwriting and his play Do Not Pass Go was produced Off-Broadway, directed by Alan Schneider. Ultimately, he became a professor at the University of Minnesota, where he taught from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. In addition, he was an early supporter of the Minneapolis’ Playwrights’ Center, where he nurtured writers such as Barbara Field and John Olive.

He his survived by his partner, Terry Kilburn, and two sisters.