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Lawrence Pressman

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Lawrence Pressman
Pressman in Ladies' Man, c. 1980
Born
David Milton Pressman[1]

(1939-07-10) July 10, 1939 (age 87)
Cynthiana, Kentucky, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1969–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1973; died 2007)​
Children1
RelativesNicholas Saunders (father-in-law), Nicholas Soussanin (grandfather-in-law)

Lawrence Pressman (born David Milton Pressman; July 10, 1939) is an American actor. He is best known for roles on Doogie Howser, M.D., Ladies' Man, Profiler, the title character on Mulligan's Stew, as a fictional scientist in the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle, as well as films such as 9 to 5, Shaft, and American Pie.

With an extensive stage career, Pressman starred on Broadway in The Man in the Glass Booth directed by Harold Pinter (also on London's West End), Play it Again, Sam, and Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory, for which he won the Theatre World Award.

Career

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His first role was on the soap opera The Edge of Night, and one of his first movie starring roles was in Shaft (1971). In 1971, Pressman starred in The Hellstrom Chronicle, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Other film credits include Making It (1971), 9 to 5 (1980), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), Trial and Error (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and American Pie (1999).

He has appeared in TV movies such as The Gathering, A Fighting Choice, Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story. Guest roles on American television series includes episodes of Hawaii Five-O, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Dawson's Creek, The Drew Carey Show, Law & Order, Matlock, Marcus Welby, M.D., Gilmore Girls, M*A*S*H, The West Wing, NCIS, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Criminal Minds.[3][4]

Pressman played Bill Denton in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. He portrayed H. R. Haldeman in the 1979 CBS miniseries Blind Ambition, and also appeared in the 1983 mini-series The Winds of War.

Prolific on stage, Pressman won the Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory.[5] He starred in The Man in the Glass Booth, directed by Harold Pinter, on both the West End and Broadway.[6] He co-starred in the original Broadway production of Woody Allen's Play it Again, Sam.[7] In 1966, Pressman starred in the inaugural production and multiple subsequent productions of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.[8][9] Pressman played Berowne in Michael Kahn's staging of Love's Labour's Lost at the American Shakespeare Festival in 1968.[10] In 1976, Pressman starred as the titular character in Henry V for the second season of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.[11] In 1978, Pressman starred in Alan Ackbourn's Absurd Person Singular opposite Eve Arden, Stockard Channing, Roberta Maxwell, and John McMartin at Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre.[12] In 1987, Pressman starred in the world premiere of Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods at La Jolla Playhouse, directed by Des McAnuff.[13] In 1998, Pressman starred as James Tyrone in Marshall Mason's staging of Long Day's Journey Into Night.[14] In 2005, Pressman starred in The Paris Letter at Center Theater Group.[15] In 2006, Pressman starred Off-Broadway in Paul Weitz's Show People at Second Stage Theater.[16] In 2008, Pressman starred in Of Equal Measure at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.[17] In 2016, Pressman starred in Casa Valentina at Pasadena Playhouse.[18]

Pressman is a founding member of the Antaeus Theatre Company and the Matrix Theatre, both in Los Angeles.[19]

Personal life

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Pressman met actress Lanna Saunders, daughter of actor Nicholas Saunders and granddaughter of actor Nicholas Soussanin, while studying with Elia Kazan; they were married in 1973 and had one child together, son David, before her death in 2007.[20]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ↑ Biography, findingaids.library.northwestern.edu. Accessed July 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  3. ↑ "Lawrence Pressman – Credits". TV Guide. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Lawrence Pressman". TV Insider. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  5. ↑ "About 1". www.theatreworldawards.org. Theatre World Awards.
  6. ↑ "The Man in the Glass Booth". www.playbill.com. Playbill Magazine.
  7. ↑ "Play It Again, Sam". www.playbill.com. Playbill Magazine.
  8. ↑ Louis, Repertory Theatre of St. "The Private Ear/The Public Eye | Repertory Theatre of St. Louis". www.repstl.org. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  9. ↑ Louis, Repertory Theatre of St. "The Cage | Repertory Theatre of St. Louis". www.repstl.org. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  10. ↑ "See the actors of 'Casa Valentina' transform: 'When they become women, they open up like a flower'". www.thecrimson.com. The Harvard Crimson. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  11. ↑ "Production History". ppt.org. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  12. ↑ ctgla.queue-it.net https://ctgla.queue-it.net/?c=ctgla&e=247protect&ver=javascript-4.4.3&cver=30&man=CTG%20Site%20Protection&enqueuetoken=eyJ0eXAiOiJRVDEiLCJlbmMiOiJBRVMyNTYiLCJpc3MiOjE3ODgxMDg3NTcxMjIsImV4cCI6MTc4ODEwODk5NzEyMiwidGkiOiI5MWYwMzQwMC00MjE2LTQxOGUtOGZlMS1lZDE1MTEwMDNkMjgiLCJjIjoiY3RnbGEiLCJlIjoiMjQ3cHJvdGVjdCIsImlwIjoiMjYyMDowOjg2MTo0OjIwODo4MDoxNTU6MTE4In0.gVASJUabxfTKJ-b3Vu7NHg.kA3G3qz1uxL894GaRozH2Z3GWlElu59s6m1HO4ReiXw&t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.centertheatregroup.org%2Fabout%2Fproduction-history%2F&kupver=cloudflare-4.4.2. Retrieved 2026-08-30. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "Theater". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1988. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  14. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (October 13, 1998). "Marshall Mason's Long Day's Journey Into Night Begins at Arizona Rep Oct. 17". No. Oct. 1998. Playbill Magazine. Playbill Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  15. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio (December 6, 2004). "Neil Patrick Harris, Ron Rifkin Deliver The Paris Letter; World Premiere Baitz Begins in CA". www.playbill.com. Playbill Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  16. ↑ Brantley, Ben (April 7, 2006). "Paul Weitz's New Play, 'Show People,' Features Guessing Games in Montauk". New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Campbell, Hamilton, Warren and Weiss Cast in Barfield's Of Equal Measure". Playbill. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  18. ↑ "See the actors of 'Casa Valentina' transform: 'When they become women, they open up like a flower'". Los Angeles Times. March 17, 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  19. ↑ Lacher, Irene (2004-12-26). "A familiar face takes center stage". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  20. ↑ "Soap star came from a family of performers". Times Colonist. Associated Press. March 16, 2007. p. D 11. Retrieved February 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Gardella, Kay (1975-02-10). "Liz Borden Whacks Away At TV's Code on Violence". New York Daily News. New York City. p. 72 – via Newspapers.com.
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