David Schramm, Star on NBC’s ‘Wings,’ Dies at 73

By Jordan Moreau

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – David Schramm, a stage actor who was also a star on the NBC comedy “Wings,” has died. He was 73.

Schramm was a founding member of New York’s The Acting Company, which announced the news of his death on Sunday.

He played Roy Biggins, the rival airline owner on “,” and appeared in all 172 episodes between 1990 and 1997. Throughout his 40-year career, Schramm also appeared in the TV movie “The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story” in 1990 and played Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the miniseries “Kennedy.” His film credits include “Let It Ride,” “Johnny Handsome” and “A Shock to the System.”

He graduated from New York City’s Julliard School and appeared in productions on and off-Broadway, at the New York Theatre Workshop, Pasadena Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Washington D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company and more. His theater credits include Alan Ayckbourn’s “Bedroom Face” and the 2009 revival of “Finian’s Rainbow.”

“We mourn his loss and will miss him,” Margot Harley of The Acting Company said in the group’s statement.