Kenneth McMillan

This craggy-faced, rotund supporting player, often in brutal or overbearing roles was memorable as the bullying, racist fire chief in "Ragtime" (1981), and as costume shop boss to Valerie Harper on the TV series "Rhoda" (CBS, 1977-1978). Kenneth McMillan was nearly 30 when he won his first important theatre role. Born in Brooklyn, he had earned his high school diploma from the High School for the Performing Arts, but was unable to find work as an actor after graduation. He studied with Uta Hagen at the HB Studios while working -- and being promoted -- at Gimbel's department store in New York. He was managing three floors at the Herald Square Store when he auditioned for and won a role in a play in 1960. Two years later, he toured with "Sweet Bird of Youth" and thereafter made his living as an actor. On Broadway, McMillan was Donny the junk shop owner in "American Buffalo" (1977), and a frequent player for Joseph Papp at the American Shakespeare Festival, particularly memorable as Falstaff in "Henry IV Part I" (1981).