A slight, craggy-faced veteran of the Broadway stage and legendary acting teacher, Hickey made his film debut in 1957 and later carved a niche for himself in the 1980s and 90s as a prolific screen character player. He began performing on the radio at age nine and made it to off-Broadway in "Bury the Dead" a decade later. Hickey also began studying acting at the famed HB Studios, where, later in the 50s, he would take up residence as an acting teacher over the next four decades. Hickey also kept busy on early TV anthologies including "Philco TV Playhouse" and made his screen debut in the powerful study of drug addiction, "A Hatful of Rain". After appearing in "Operation Mad Ball" (1957), Hickey would not return to features for a decade until he took small roles in "The Producers" (1967) and "The Boston Strangler" (1968). Stage work kept him busy; over the years Hickey has appeared on and off-Broadway in plays including "Tovarich", "On the Town", "Thieves", "Happy Birthday Wanda June", "Troilus and Cressida" and "Next". He was also part of the American Shakespeare Festival Theater for six years in the 60s. His acting students, meanwhile, included the likes of James Woods, Judd Hirsch, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Christine Lahti, Tom Berenger and Amy Wright.
Feature work picked up slightly for Hickey in the 70s, and, though some of the films were obscure, they included such intriguing items as "A New Leaf" (1971) and John Huston's "Wise Blood" (1979). Huston remembered the diminutive and feisty actor when he was casting the key supporting role of an elderly, amusing but still deadly Mafia Don in "Prizzi's Honor" (1985); Hickey's splendid turn in the role won him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor and kicked off a highly prolific period in film that has lasted for over a decade. He has played a variety of patriarchal and avuncular figures since then, often crotchety, occasionally villainous and sometimes quite funny, in a wide range of films including "The Name of the Rose" (1986), "Da" (1988), "Sea of Love" (1989), "My Blue Heaven" (1990) and "Major Payne" (1995). Hickey also enjoyed himself immensely supplying the voice of the evil scientist for the animated hit, "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993).
More recent stage work for Hickey included the Broadway revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1986-87), with Hickey as the deadly Jonathan Brewster's ferrety sidekick Dr. Einstein. TV credits, meanwhile, have included TV-movies including "Stranded" (1986) and "Mob Boss" (1991). Hickey also tried a series with the ABC sitcom "Baby Boom" (1991-92), and got laughs with a recurring role as the obnoxious, babbling Carlton on the hit sitcom "Wings".
Profession(s):
Actor, acting teacher, dancer, assistant stage manager, director
Sometimes Credited As:
1997 Final features, "Twisted" and "Mousehunt" (released posthumously)
1986 - 1987 Acted the role of Dr. Einstein on Broadway in the revival of the 1940s Joseph Kesselring farce, "Arsenic and Old Lace"
1985 Returned to features to act a breakthrough role in another John Huston film, "Prizzi's Honor"; received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor
1985 Began acting regularly on TV with a role in his first TV-movie, "Izzy and Moe"
1984 Succeeded Philip Pleasants in the role of Ralph Waldo Emerson in the off-Broadway play, "Romance Language"
1982 Acted in an off-Broadway revival of the Moliere play, "Don Juan", directed by Richard Foreman
1979 Last film for six years, John Huston's "Wise Blood"
1967 Returned to feature films after a decade to act in Mel Brooks' fondly remembered satire, "The Producers"
1961 Stage directing debut, "All You Need Is One Good Break" at the Phoenicia Playhouse, Phoenicia NY
1959 First TV special, played the Artful Dodger in "Oliver Twist" ("Dupont Show of the Month")
1957 Film debut, "A Hatful of Rain"
1957 Began teaching acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York
1952 Worked as assistant stage manager and actor in "Tovarich" on Broadway
1951 Broadway debut, "Saint Joan"; production starred Uta Hagen, with Hickey as an extra
1948 Acted off-Broadway at age 20 in the play, "Bury the Dead"; studied acting with Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof at their HB Studios (date approximate)
1938 Began acting career on radio at the age of nine (date approximate)
First taught acting to children at a community center in New York City's Lower East Side, the Henry Street Settlement, when he was in his early twenties
Appeared on "Camera Three", "Philco Playhouse" and other live TV dramas in the 1950s
Joined American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford Connecticut for six seasons during the 1960s
TV series debut as regular, "Baby Talk", an ABC sitcom in which he played the role of Fogarty
Played recurring role of Carlton Blanchard on the NBC sitcom, "Wings"
