Larry Neumann Jr., a stage actor, died at 62 at his South Shore home last Wednesday. Complications from Type 1 diabetes most likely caused the death. Sandy Borglum, his former wife of 18 years, broke the news. In a statement, Borglum stated:
“Larry was the most hardworking individual I’d ever met. He was fortunate in that he could always live his life on his own terms.”
Many of Larry Neumann Jr.’s friends and followers expressed their sympathies on social media.
Man, the heart keeps breaking. I looked up to Larry Neumann Jr, working with him on Coast of Chicago at @gglasstheatre was a tremendous learning experience for me. Larry was kind, talented and could always make me laugh. I’ll miss you, bud. Rest in Peace, papa. pic.twitter.com/GvXYLcwBCu
— Carlo Lorenzo García (@CarloLGarcia) February 24, 2022
Larry Neumann Jr. is well-known for his remarkable acting abilities.
For a while, Larry Neumann Jr., the managing director of the Famous Door Theatre Company, had a long and prosperous career in the entertainment world. The archetypal Chicago theatrical actor performed in films such as Stranger Than Fiction (2006), The Merry Gentleman (2009), Stir of Echoes (1999), Sirens (1993), and Slice (1993). He is most renowned, though, for his stage performances. Neumann worked with New Crimes Productions and Blind Parrot Productions in the mid-1980s.
When he portrayed the title part in Charles Marowitz’s Artaud at Rodez in 1986, the committed actor shot himself with a syringe on stage and was nailed into a coffin after the performance. Neumann portrayed Iago in the Chicago Shakespeare Company’s production of Othello in 1988 after his performance at Rodez gained him much-deserved acclaim. He appeared in the one-person show Judgement in 1995.
Neumann excelled in all of his roles, whether as a Shakespearean tragedian or as an ordinary Chestnut Seller in the yearly Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol. In 1996, he portrayed the Dalai Lama in Eric Overmyer’s monologue, The Dalai Lama Goes Three for Four. His most notable performance was likely as Richard Nickel in the Lookingglass Theatre’s production of They All Fall Down in 2001. Larry Neumann Jr. has been in a few advertisements as well. He also appeared in Writers Theatre’s The Puppetmaster of Lodz, Noble Fool Theatricals’ Underneath the Lintel, and First Folio Theatre’s The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe. His early passing is a sad loss for Chicago theaters, but theatergoers will remember the performances he has given for a long time.
