Alan Rachins, who played lawyer Douglas Brackman for eight seasons on “L.A. Law” and Jenna Elfman’s father Larry Finklestein on “Dharma & Greg,” died Saturday of heart failure. He was 82 years old.
Rachins’ manager, Mark Teitelbaum, shared the news of his death with TheWrap.
The actor’s additional credits include “Stargate SG-1,” “Showgirls,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” While he was well known for his television and film roles, Rachins began his career on Broadway in 1967 in “After the Rain.” He worked in theatrical productions for years until the 1970s and returned to the stage in a two-person play after five seasons on “Dharma & Greg.”
In a 2003 interview with New Jersey Stage he admitted the shift was a big step for him. “Well, this is big in the sense that this is the other extreme because we are on the stage at all times. We’ve got a lot to do. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and so it’s a huge challenge in that regard,” Rachins explained.
“If this was like a six-character play, I don’t know that it would feel as such an extreme change from one to another,” Rachins added. “But, here we are — the two of us — it’s kind of like a trapeze act without a net. The world outside has not really existed since we started rehearsals. It’s been a hundred percent, a thousand percent focused on this… And it’s been great!”
Alan Rachins was born on Oct. 3, 1942 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Empire State College in 1974 and moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. He began his career on stage, where he had parts in the original Broadway productions of “After the Rain” and “Hadrian the Seventh.”
In the 1970s, Rachins was a fellow at the American Film Institute and spent the following years writing scripts for television. He returned to acting in 1985’s “Always,” which led to his role on “L.A. Law.”
Rachins was fond of his time on TV and told New Jersey Stage that these roles gave him opportunities to explore other parts of himself. “I love the idea of playing different characters and I wouldn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing all of the time,” he said. “That’s one of the great things about ‘Dharma & Greg,’ it really allowed me to do something different.”
“But who knows? You just do the next thing that comes along and do the best with it you can and see what happens. It’s a crapshoot and you can’t really exert control,” he added.
Rachins is survived by his wife Joanna Frank, who he married in 1978, and their son.
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