Magician-turned-actor Harry Anderson has been on my mind a lot lately, largely due to the fact that he was one of the stars of the 1990 IT mini-series, and IT is big news these days. I grew up watching Anderson play Judge Harry T. Stone on the sitcom Night Court, which ran from 1984 to 1992, the perfect time for Anderson to be a regular presence on TV during my formative years, so I've been a fan of his for as long as I can remember and have been wishing he would have a career resurgence. I wanted to see Anderson do more acting. Unfortunately, such a resurgence isn't to be.
Authorities have confirmed that Anderson passed away at his home in Asheville, North Carolina on Monday morning. He was 65, and his son has said that he passed away of natural causes.
Anderson worked primarily in television, and in addition to playing Richie Tozier in IT and Judge Stone on 193 episodes of Night Court, he also played a memorable character in 6 episodes of Cheers and was the lead character, columnist Dave Barry, in the sitcom Dave's World. Dave's World ran from 1993 to 1997, ending after 98 episodes.
IT wasn't the only time Anderson worked within the horror genre – he also starred in popular episodes of the anthology shows Tales from the Darkside (where he took on an evil answering machine in All a Clone by the Telephone) and Tales from the Crypt (where he was an illustrator whose drawings came to life in Korman's Kalamity).
Anderson only took on five more acting roles after Dave's World ended twenty-one years ago, most of them guest appearances on TV shows. Having made a good amount of money from acting, he preferred to just settle back and do card tricks and magic. He moved to New Orleans and opened a magic shop and a speakeasy, then moved on to Asheville, North Carolina after Hurricane Katrina.
He is survived by his wife and two children.