Philip Bosco, Tony Winner and Veteran of More Than 50 Broadway Productions, Dies at 88

Philip Bosco, a Tony Award winner for Lend Me a Tenor whose Broadway career spanned four decades with over 50 productions, has died at the age of 88. The cause, according to The New York Times, was complications of dementia.

Bosco made his Broadway debut in 1960 with Rape of the Belt, and earned a Tony nomination for his performance. He also received nominations for his performances in Heartbreak House (1984), You Never Can Tell (1987), Moon Over Buffalo (1996), and Twelve Angry Men (2004), winning the award for his work as Saunders in Lend Me a Tenor (1989).

He had the distinction of appearing in the original stagings of A Man for All Seasons, Whose Life is It Anyway?, Copenhagen, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as major revivals of classics like The Threepenny Opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, An Inspector Calls, The Crucible, and An Enemy of the People, among other productions.

Onscreen, Bosco's many credits include the films The First Wives Club, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Working Girl, as well as the television series Damages, where he played the character Hollis Nye. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance in an ABC Afterschool Special in 1987.

Bosco is survived by his wife, Nancy; their children, Celia, Lisa, Diane, Jennifer, Philip, Christopher, and John; two brothers; and 15 grandchildren.