Sully Boyar

One of seven children, Sully Boyar was a lawyer before he decided to take up acting in his early forties. After leaving his law practice to take drama classes, Boyar joined the Actors Studio and started out in summer stock before moving on to Off-Broadway productions. His ruddy, hard-edged face made him a great character actor for playing policemen, doctors and other authority figures, and he made many TV appearances on shows like "Law & Order" and "The Equalizer" as a judge. He never really played a lead role in any project, but he's a vital presence in some of the most important movies of the late 1970s, including "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Fort Apache, The Bronx." In 1977, he returned to the stage on Broadway, co-starring with Al Pacino in the 1977 revival of "The Basic Training Of Pavlo Hummel." Sully Boyar was an incredibly prolific actor throughout his life, appearing in over twenty movies and as many TV shows. He was widely respected by his fellow actors, who praised his talent despite coming to acting late in life. Boyar died while waiting for a bus in Whitestone, Queens, two weeks before the "Sopranos" episode that would be his last role aired.