Frank Dolan, 92, Longtime Actor, Film Critic
From the Boston Globe – 2017-12-16
A former theater and film critic for radio stations WEEI, WHDH, and WRKO and a nationally syndicated film critic for Associated Press radio news, Frank Dolan died of pneumonia Nov. 15 in JML Care Center in Falmouth. He was 92 and had been a longtime Boston resident…
In 1977, he and his wife, Muriel, originated the title characters on WCVB-TV’s social issues sitcom “The Baxters,” which Norman Lear subsequently bought and recast to broadcast nationally. Mr. Dolan was also a host of WBZ-TV’s “Yankee Magazine.” …
Mr. Dolan, who donated tapes of his reviews to the Harvard Theatre Collection, developed a reading program of poetry and prose later in his career for public libraries. His son established a website, www.frankfavorites.com, to promote the program and chronicle Mr. Dolan’s career…
Accompanying Mr. Dolan to a show he was reviewing had special meaning for his son Andrew. “To this day,” Andrew said, “I feel I’m missing something if I’m not close to the stage.”
- Read more in the Boston Globe
From Fred Barzyk
It is always sad when someone you have known and worked with for over 50 years passes.
Frank Dolan and I first met when he was doing community theater back in 1960. I invited Frank and his wife to one of my “Learn to Act for TV” courses I did at WGBH in the early days. Since I had convinced the management to let me do dramas, I needed to find volunteer actors. Frank and his wife were some of the first to join.
Frank appeared in two Jean Shepherd dramas and in my last drama done a few years ago “The Waiting Room.” His laugh, good cheer and professionalism will be missed.