Ed Wheeler, a veteran character actor who appeared in Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Broadcast News, Mickey Blue Eyes and many other films, television shows, stage productions and commercials, has died. He was 88.
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His wife, Messeret Stroman Wheeler, told Deadline that he died on August 21 at Englewood, N.J. Hospital from respiratory failure due to complications from pneumonia.
Wheeler was born on February 18, 1936, in Brooklyn and began his career in show business with television commercials, including national ads for brands such as Luvs diapers, Reynolds Wrap, Sudafed, Pepcid AC, Computer Associates and many others.
He trained under Gene Frankel and Vin Diesel's stepfather Irving Vincent and earned his early screen credits in such TV series as Watch Your Mouth, 3-2-1 Contact and The Core of the Apple. Wheeler's first film role was opposite William Hurt, Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News (1987).
