Kenneth Tigar (born September 24, 1942) is an American actor, primarily on American television, and translator.
Kenneth Leslie Tigar was born into a Jewish family in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and raised in the Greater Boston Area.[1][2]
He received his BA and Ph.D. in German literature from Harvard University. As an undergraduate, he was active in theater as both an actor and a director. He spent a year at the University of Göttingen and performed in Vienna and other European cities.[3]
Tigar made his film debut in The Happy Hooker (1975). He went on to play Mr. Raymaker in Just One of the Guys (1985) and Professor Swivet in 18 Again! (1988). Tigar's later film roles include playing a bomb squad leader in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Weil in Primal Fear (1996), a lawyer in Conspiracy Theory (1997), and a brief but pivotal part as a German resister to Loki in The Avengers (2012).
He has appeared in numerous television shows, including starring as the short-tempered Captain Jensen in L.A. Heat from 1997 to 1999, appearing in a total of 47 episodes. He guest-starred in two episodes of Cheers, playing different characters – "The Boys in the Bar" in Season 1 as a gay character called Fred, and later in Season 4's "Don Juan Is Hell", as a professor of Diane's.[4] He also played Dr. Gordon on Dallas, Sid Sidlevich (Maggie's boss) on Growing Pains, Fritz Heath on Dynasty, Dr. Keinholz on ER, and Walter Doyle on House of Cards,[5] among many other roles.