Harold Gould | Character actor, 86

Harold Gould, 86, a veteran character actor who played con man Kid Twist in the 1973 movie

The Sting

, Valerie Harper's father on TV's

Rhoda

, and Betty White's boyfriend on

The Golden Girls

, has died.

Mr. Gould, who also was known for his stage work, died Saturday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement community in Los Angeles of prostate cancer, said Leah Gould, his daughter-in-law.

A former drama teacher at the University of California, Riverside, who launched his career in front of the camera in the early '60s, Mr. Gould appeared in numerous movies, including Harper, the 1974 remake of The Front Page, Silent Movie, and Patch Adams.

Over five decades, he also made scores of guest appearances on TV shows, including Route 66, Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare, and, recently, Nip/Tuck.

On TV, he may be best remembered for playing Martin Morgenstern on the 1974-78 situation comedy Rhoda and Miles Webber on the 1985-92 sitcom The Golden Girls.

"He was such a fine actor and such a lovely man," White said Monday.

Despite Mr. Gould's extensive television credits, theater was his greatest love. On Broadway, he appeared in Neil Simon's Fools, Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups, Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase, and Richard Baer's Mixed Emotions.

Born Harold V. Goldstein on Dec. 10, 1923, in Schenectady, N.Y., Mr. Gould loved the theater at an early age but was encouraged by his parents to get into something with a more stable income. So after serving in the Army in World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in teaching in 1947 from what is now the University at Albany, State University of New York, followed by a master's and a doctorate from Cornell University. - Los Angeles Times