Photo: François Pugnet/Sygma/Getty
The stage and television performer passed away of Alzheimer’s disease on Friday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his life partner Michele Roberge confirmed toThe New York Times.
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Birney’s ex-wife Meredith Baxter remembered the late star.
The former couple got married in 1974 and divorced in 1989. Baxteraccused her ex-husband of abusein her 2011 bookUntied: A Memoir of Family, Fame and Floundering. He denied the allegations at the time, calling her claims “an appalling abuse of the truth.”
The pair starred together as on the short-lived 1970s sitcomBridget Loves Bernie. The show chronicled the interfaith marriage between an Irish Catholic teacher (Baxter) from a wealthy family and a Jewish cab driver (Birney).
The show received criticism from Jewish groups for its portrayal of interfaith marriage and Jewish stereotypes, according toThe New York Times, and was canceled after one season.
“One segment of the protesters is truly concerned about the dilution of their faith,” Mr. Birney told theNew York Daily News, per theTimes, several months after the cancellation. “But intermarriage is on the rise, nevertheless. The threat doesn’t come from a harmless show such as ours, but from within.”
Birney went on to play John Quincy Adams in the PBS production ofThe Adams Chroniclesand took on the role of Frank Serpico in an NBC adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s 1973 filmSerpico.
He drew acclaim for his role as Antonio Salieri in Peter Shaffer’sAmadeuson Broadway. He was part of the original cast ofSt. Elsewhereon NBC before leaving for the stage role, according toThe New York Post.
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Birney also appeared on Broadway inThe Good Woman of Setzuan(1970),The Playboy of the Western World(1971),An Enemy of the People(1971),Antigone(1971) andBenefactors(1985), according toDeadline.
source: people.com
