Chicago titan’s final bow: Actor, director, Northlight co-founder Mike Nussbaum dies

Mike Nussbaum, described as the dean of Chicago actors, died Saturday, six days short of his 100th birthday.

A titan of Chicago area theater for nearly 60 years, Nussbaum was beloved by theater artists, and justifiably so, said longtime friend, collaborator and Northlight Theatre artistic director BJ Jones, who described the late actor as his “theater father.”

“Mike was the dean of the Chicago school of acting,” said Jones, who praised the six-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winner for his authenticity. “His approach was as pure and as simple, yet as difficult, as truth. He could not lie on stage.”

“Mike was a great actor and a wonderful collaborator,” said Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Amy Morton in a prepared statement. “He was a grounded, generous and inspiring human being. A real gentleman.”

A Broadway and film veteran (“House of Games,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Men in Black”), Nussbaum worked regularly at Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Goodman and Northlight theaters, the last of which he co-founded with Gregory Kandel and the late director Frank Galati in 1975.

Nussbaum served as Northlight’s artistic director for only a year but returned frequently, most recently in 2018 for Rachel Bonds’ “Curve of Departure.”

Jones recalled the play’s final scene between Nussbaum’s Rudy and his daughter-in-law Linda, which rings especially poignant upon his passing.

“She says, ‘I don’t want you to go. And he says, I’m mostly gone already, doll,’” quoted Jones.

“Mike did want to go,” said Jones. “He was ready. He was done, and if he couldn’t act, what was the point? Acting was his life.”

Nussbaum’s last major stage production was 2019’s “Hamlet” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in which he played the gravedigger. When it became apparent those large-scale shows were no longer an option for Nussbaum, Jones asked playwright David Mamet to write a short two-hander for the two of them.

Nussbaum, who met the writer in the 1960s, appeared in the premieres of his plays "Life in the Theater" and "The Shawl" and originated the role of Teach in "American Buffalo." The actor also played George Aaronow in the Chicago and Broadway premieres of "Glengarry Glen Ross," Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize winner.

In a 2002 Daily Herald interview Nussbaum recalled meeting Mamet when he was a young, aspiring actor and writer.

"We were in a play together and he was a terrible actor," said Nussbaum. "I teased him about it all the time. Then he brought in 'Duck Variations' (an early Mamet play) and I stopped teasing him."

Two weeks after Jones’ request, Mamet delivered “Pilot’s Lounge.” Over the last few years, Jones and Nussbaum did a handful of readings of the 15-minute play. The last one was Feb. 16, 2023. As always, after the reading concluded, audience members asked for Nussbaum’s autograph and posed for photos with him, Jones recalled.

“To see those people after we read this play… It reinvigorated him,” he said.

With Nussbaum homebound for most of this year, Jones regularly stopped by to chat and to drop off scripts. He did so as recently as Tuesday.

“I was there to make him laugh, to entertain him,” said Jones. “It buoyed both of us.”

Nussbaum also regularly welcomed fellow actors and card players Rick Peeples, Erich Hellman and Kate Buddeke for Sunday poker games.

“A week or so ago he won $25 and couldn’t have been happier,” laughed Jones, who frequently welcomed Nussbaum back to Northlight.

In 2017, Nussbaum played Albert Einstein in its production of Mark St. Germain’s “Relativity” which until recently was the theater’s biggest selling show over the last 10 years, according to Jones.

Nussbaum was on stage for nearly the entire 90-minute play. He was off book (meaning he had his part memorized) on the first day of rehearsal, Jones recalled.

Nussbaum also co-starred with good friend, the late John Mahoney in Northlight’s 2008 production of “Better Late” by Larry Gelbart.

“Every Sunday morning I’d come in and the two of them would be racing to finish the New York Times’ crossword,” said Jones, laughing.

Theater was Nussbaum’s second career. A World War II veteran, he returned from the war, married, started his own business and moved to the suburbs to raise a family. In his spare time, he acted in community theater productions until Bob Sickinger, director of the groundbreaking Hull House theater, noticed him and invited him to join the company.

He juggled acting and his business until his youngest child graduated from high school in 1970, after which he and his wife sold the business so he could pursue acting full time.

As much as he loved acting, there was something Nussbaum loved even more.

"I enjoy the camaraderie that takes place back stage as much, or more than being on stage," Nussbaum said in 2002.

During the 2002 run of Steppenwolf’s "Glengarry," directed by Morton, Nussbaum and his castmates arrived early "just to schmooze," he recalled to the Daily Herald. After the final curtain, they'd meet somewhere for a drink, Nussbaum said.

“He loved hanging out with actors, laughing and telling stories,” said Jones. “He was particularly passionate about working and learning and keeping fresh by working with younger actors.”

Many actors paid him tribute, sharing what they learned from him, said Jones “but they’d be flattered and delighted to know that Mike drew artistic energy from them.”