Mark Blum (May 14, 1950 โ March 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked in film, television and New York theater. She became known in the 1980s for her supporting roles in the films Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee; In his later years, he reached a new generation of viewers with his role as bookstore Mr. Mooney in the TV series You.
He was born in Newark, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1968, then studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
Cinema and stage
In 1985, he played Gary Glass, the husband of Rosanna Arquette, in Desperately Seeking Susan. The following year he appeared in Crocodile Dundee as newspaper editor Richard Mason. Blind Date (1987) and The Presidio (1988) are among other films of this period.
His stage career was at least as important as his screen work. He received an Obie Award for his performance in Gus and Al, which was performed at Playwrights Horizons in the 1988โ1989 season. He appeared on Broadway in such plays as Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers and Gore Vidal's The Best Man.
Television and its final years
He guested on TV series such as Frasier and NYPD Blue. From 2014โ2018, he played unionist Union Bob in the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, and in 2018 he played bookstore owner Ivan Mooney in the first season of You. He taught for many years in the graduate acting program at Brooklyn College and served on the board of directors of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA.
He died in New York on March 25, 2020, at the age of 69, due to complications from COVID-19. He was one of the first casualties of the pandemic from the entertainment world.
