Howard da Silva, the actor, director, producer and author whose show-business career spanned more than 55 years, died of lymphoma Sunday at his home in Ossining, N.Y. He was 76.
Mr. da Silva, who appeared on Broadway, in the movies and on television, was perhaps best known for originating the role of Benjamin Franklin in the Broadway musical ”1776” in 1969.
He also originated the role of Jud in the Broadway musical ”Oklahoma!”
(1943), Larry Foreman in ”The Cradle Will Rock” (1937), Mendeleh in ”The World of Sholem Aleichem” (1953) and Ben Marino in ”Fiorello!” (1959).
The son of a dress cutter and a women`s-rights activist, he was born in Cleveland and brought up in the Bronx. Later he moved with his family to Pittsburgh, where he worked his way through the Carnegie Institute of Technology.
Following graduation, he hitch-hiked to New York, where he became an apprentice in the theatrical troupe of Eva Le Gallienne. In 1928, he made his New York stage debut at the Civic Repertory Theater. By the time he left the group in 1934, he had played 40 different roles.
Mr. da Silva then went to the Cleveland Playhouse, where he directed and starred in such plays as ”The Master Builder,” ”Rain From Heaven” and
”Between Two Worlds.”
In 1936 he made his Hollywood film debut as a White Russian general in the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur film ”Once in a Blue Moon.”
Returning to New York, he became associated with Orson Welles` Mercury Theater company.
He won Academy Award nominations for best supporting actor for his film roles as the bartender in ”Lost Weekend” and the villainous captain in ”Two Years Before the Mast.”
His more than 40 film credits included ”Unconquered,” ”They Live by Night,” ”1776,” ”The Great Gatsby” and ”Mommie Dearest.” In his last movie appearance, in Sidney Lumet`s ”Garbo Talks,” he played a photographer. In 1978, he won an Emmy Award for outstanding performance by a supporting player in ”Verna: U.S.O. Girl,” one of his many television roles.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy; two sons, Peter and Daniel; three daughters, Rachel, Judith and Margaret; and a grandaughter, Kerry.
