Denis Arndt, Tony-Nominated Star of ‘Heisenberg’ and Actor in David E. Kelley Shows, Dies at 86

Denis Arndt, the familiar character actor who appeared on L.A. Law, Picket Fences and other shows for David E. Kelley and earned a Tony nomination for his turn opposite Mary-Louise Parker in the Broadway two-hander Heisenberg, has died. He was 86.

Arndt died Tuesday at his longtime cabin home in Ashland, Oregon, his family announced.

Arndt also portrayed the newlywed husband of Mary Tyler Moore’s character on the 1988 CBS sitcom Annie McGuire — Adrien Brody played his son — and he was one of the cops ogling Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell in the iconic interrogation scene in Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992).

Arndt started out with Kelley on NBC’s L.A. Law as lawyer Jack Sollers, who arrives in season five (1990-91) to represent the naughty Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) in her sexual discrimination case against McKenzie Brackman.

He recurred as another lawyer, Franklin Dell, on CBS’ Picket Fences over four seasons (1993-96), and Kelley would bring him back for roles on Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Public, Boston Legal and Mr. Mercedes.

Making his first and only Broadway appearance at age 77, Arndt received acclaim for his performance as the Irish butcher Alex Priest in Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg, which debuted at the Manhattan Theatre Club in June 2015 before segueing to Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre 15 months later.

Arndt got the gig in spring 2015 four days before rehearsals began when Kenneth Welsh bowed out. His Alex and a much-younger woman, Georgie (Parker), embark on an unexpected romance, and he earned a Tony nomination for best actor in a play.

In his review of Heisenberg in The New York Times, Ben Brantley wrote that Arndt “makes what has to be the most unlikely and irresistible Broadway debut of the year. He lends roiling, at first barely detectable energy to the seeming passivity of a man who, on occasion, finds himself crying for reasons he cannot (nor wants to) explain. But this ostensibly confirmed celibate oozes a gentle, undeniable sensuality. He never lets Alex be overwhelmed by Georgie’s relentless, full-frontal attacks.”

“The July/December relationship was part of the attraction for me,” Arndt explained. “I realized I was attracted to [Alex’s] vulnerability. What I saw was someone not full of defenses, but full of receptive acceptance. And it was chemistry between the two characters that drew me in.”

Denis Leroy Arndt was born on Feb, 23, 1939, near Seattle in Issaquah, Washington. He earned two Purple Hearts and a Commendation Medal for flying helicopters during the Vietnam War in the U.S. Army.

After the service, he graduated from the University of Washington and flew helicopters in Alaska for several years before returning to Seattle. While managing an apartment house, a friend persuaded him to audition for a role in a local play, and Arndt became a founding member of the Intiman Theatre, which opened in 1972.

He made a couple of TV appearances in 1974 before his career gained steam in the mid-1980s with roles on the TV shows Crime Story and Wiseguy.

Arndt also played Dr. Bill Augustine on the fifth and final season of NBC’s Providence in 2002 and through the decades worked on The Wonder Years, Murder, She Wrote, Life Goes On, Herman’s Head, Touched by an Angel, The District, 24, Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Fight, among many other series.

His big-screen résumé also included Distant Thunder (1988), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Metro (1997), Bandidas (2006) and Undisputed (2006).

Arndt acted in regional theaters across the country and with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival starting in 1976, starring in King Lear, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Othello, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Long Day’s Journey Into Night and, in his last appearance in 2014, The Tempest.

Survivors include his wife, Magee (they were married for 45 years); his children, Scott, Tammy, Laurie, Kirsten, Bryce, McKenna and Tanner; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

His family noted that “in lieu of flowers, he would request you go grab life by the balls and follow your passion.”

Asked in a 2017 interview what kept him motivated, Arndt replied:

“When you’re in a room and a story is being told, you know that everybody in that room’s cerebral cortex is focused exactly on the story as though it was happening to them. You know when that happens. I guess my motivation is that — the spiritual, empathic intercourse that happens between storyteller and audience member, the unrehearsed player.”

Rhett Bartlett contributed to this report.