Don Took

Don Russell Took

(1939 - 2022)

Don Took, a well-known Orange County actor and one of the founders of the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa, passed away peacefully at his home in North Hollywood on December 29, 2022, at the age of 83, after battling cancer.

Don was born as Don Tuche on July 31, 1939, in Redding, California, the son of Dr. Russell J. Tuche, a psychiatrist, and his wife Elizabeth Tuche. He grew up in the Bay Area and earned his BFA at San Francisco State University. He also took classes and performed at Jules Irving's Actors' Workshop in San Francisco.

Don Took or Tuche, as he was known then, was part of a small group of actors and directors who formed lifetime friendships in the San Francisco Bay area. They headed south in 1965 to found South Coast Repertory which was at that time a fledgling enterprise in a renovated marine hardware shop on the Balboa waterfront and then slowly transformed into an Orange County cultural icon earning national and international respect. Looking back, Don said, "it was a totally unique experience for all of us, to start with $50 and a station wagon and to witness it become arguably the best regional theater in the United States." Took was well known for his door-crashing entrance as Marley's ghost in the annual production of "A Christmas Carol," a role he repeated for 25 years running.

For those who worked with him, Don's reckless bravery as an out-of-the-box character actor mirrored his personality. Tall, skinny, and by his own description "no leading man", Don was fun, irascible, challenging, and could be delightfully and childishly joyous. He was literate, loved the theater, and was an avid reader of the New York Times. Some of his well known roles over the years at SCR included classic absurdist characters like Aston in Pinter's THE CARETAKER, Estragon in Samuel Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT, and the creation of new roles such as Kurt in PLAY STRINDBERG, P.J. in BAFO, and Hal in ALEKINE'S DEFENSE. Although his life was dedicated to live theater, TV viewers would recognize him from his appearances on such shows as Cheers, Frazier, ER, and Arrested Development, amongst others.

After retiring from South Coast Repertory in 2006, Don was happy with a quiet life in his North Hollywood apartment, seeing friends, going to the gym, reading the daily NY TIMES, studying all forms of television, football, cooking, and restaurants. When asked by an actor-friend about what he did with all his free time in retirement, Don was fond of repeating "DOCTORS! Dammit. After 60 you know, it's all patch, patch, patch!" But Don spent his final years doing just what he wanted to do. He'll be remembered by friends as generous, funny, mischievous, and a pleasure to be around. He was a man of the theater.

Don is survived by his younger sister, Julie Allen of Petaluma, California.