Alan Rachins, Emmy-nominated actor from ‘L.A. Law’ and ‘Dharma & Greg,’ dies at 82
Alan Rachins, who starred in the long-running TV shows “L.A. Law” and “Dharma & Greg,” has died at age 82.
Rachins died Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of heart failure, his family confirmed in a statement to The Times, adding that the actor “died peacefully in his sleep.”
“Alan loved acting, recently making guest appearances in ‘NCIS’ and ‘Young Sheldon,’” the statement said. “The family thanks everyone for this outpouring of affection.”
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Breaking into the entertainment industry by way of Broadway — and off-Broadway — Rachins rose to prominence on the NBC legal series “L.A. Law,” which ran for eight seasons from 1986-94 and revolved around the City of Angels’ fictional law firm McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak.
Rachins earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his role as swaggering senior partner Douglas Brackman Jr., whose father helped found the firm: “I’m more like my father than I thought. I wanted to be the lawyer he was, the man he was. Turns out we both just like to cheat on our wives,” Brackman famously quipped in the show.
Rachins’ character was one whom fans loved to hate, and they often told him. “I’d say, ‘Well, thank you,’ ” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2014. He suspected the show’s co-creator, Steven Bochco — also Rachins’ real-life brother-in-law — made Brackman such a womanizer because “he was so buttoned up, he had to have some outlets.”
Later, Rachins unbuttoned a little more in the ABC sitcom “Dharma & Greg,” playing the hippie father of lead newlywed Dharma Finkelstein. A stereotypical 1960s radical eager to spread his conspiracy theories, Larry Finkelstein features in many fan-favorite episodes, including Season 1’s “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father.”
“Our sweet Alan Rachins… we will miss you,” “Dharma & Greg” co-star Jenna Elfman wrote Sunday on Instagram. “Thank you for being the PERFECT ‘Larry Finkelstein’ to my ‘Dharma.’ ”
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Alan Leonard Rachins was born Oct. 3, 1942, in Cambridge, Mass., and spent his formative years in Brookline, Mass. He attended the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, Wharton, for two years before dropping out against his father’s wishes to pursue acting.
Rachins made his Broadway debut in 1967’s “After the Rain” and was one of the original performers of the half-play, half-musical, fully nude off-Broadway hit “Oh! Calcutta” in 1969..
“You’re not just naked, you’re vulnerable,” Rachins told the New York Times on the show’s 50th anniversary. “I felt extremely vulnerable.”
During a career lull from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, Rachins left acting to focus on writing for TV shows such as “Knight Rider,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Hart to Hart.” He returned to the screen with a leading role in the 1985 indie film “Always,” which ultimately led to his casting in “L.A. Law.”
In 1978, Rachins married Joanna Frank — also his wife on “L.A. Law” — whom he met a year prior in an acting class. In addition to her, he is survived by their son, Robert.
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