David Penhale

1944 - 2024

David Penhale

Snowmass Village, CO - David Penhale of Snowmass Village, CO, passed away on May 22, 2024, at Glenwood Springs Health Care at the age of 79. David was born on October 15, 1944, in New York City, the oldest of four boys. His parents, William and Mildred moved to Concord, NH shortly thereafter. David loved to ski, learning at Foogee in East Concord, then moving on to the big mountains in the area. He was a member of the Concord High football and ski teams. But what he loved most was theater as he began to develop his skills in productions at Concord High.

He went to Colby College where received a BA in English literature and then on to Wayne State University where he received an MFA in Directing. He later went to New York City and studied with Robert Wilson at the Byrd Hoffman School for Byrds.

Soon after his son Daniel was born, David and his wife Karen Grossman Penhale moved to the New England area where he excelled as an actor and director, most notably in Portland, ME, Boston, MA, and Portsmouth, NH. While his singing and acting range was broad, when it came to directing plays, he preferred those by Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and David Mamet.

In his mid-thirties David moved to Hollywood with his family where he was cast in a sizable number of movies and TV shows, including Cheers, Hill Street Blues, Highway to Heaven and A-Team.

Over the years, he developed a passion for biking and transforming interior painting into an art form. He was a talented singer and pianist with the soul of Thelonius Monk coursing through his veins. David was a unique, singular individual-- an artist at heart.

David is predeceased by his brother, Ed Penhale and survived by his son, Daniel and ex-wife Karen of Los Angeles, CA, brothers Jim of Bozeman, MT and Tom of Waltham, MA, and nephews Connor and Michael of Denver, CO.

Memorial services will be held at the Concord Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, NH in the fall.