Chicago native James Deuter, whose work lit up the stages of many Chicago companies in the earlier days of off-Loop theatre, passed away on August 29 at age 71 after a long illness.

Among his many acclaimed performances, Deuter won a 1981 Jeff Award for his performance as Uncle Freddie in Martin Sherman’s Bent, directed by Robert Falls, at the now-closed Wisdom Bridge Theatre. (That award was lost in a house fire, according to his partner of 42 years, Andrew Karzas.) He also won Jeff nominations for his work in two short Tom Stoppard plays in 1976 with Dream Theatre-Body Politic, in 1989 for his role in David Hare’s Knuckle at Next Theatre (which also featured Jeremy Piven), and in 1990 for his turn as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, also with Body Politic. Of that performance, Chicago Reader critic Lawrence Bommer wrote, “Deuter chews over each idiotic remark and then spits it out with a merciless deadpan. His stuffed bosom alone is a comic phenomenon.” But Deuter could also play menacing: of his role as the amoral Patrick in the Hare play, Bommer noted that he “stunningly conveys the rancid elegance of life's respectable bullies.”

Deuter accumulated a long list of screen credits, including With Honors, Only the Lonely, Major League, and the 1986 “American Playhouse” presentation of Under the Biltmore Clock, based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (His castmates in that project included Chicagoans Larry Neumann Jr., Pauline Brailsford—the former artistic director of Body Politic—and Deanna Dunagan.) In the 1980s, he began a long and fruitful creative association with Nanette Fabray, first in a vehicle entitled The Oscar Ladies (in which he appeared with fellow Chicagoans Al Nuti and Edgar Meyer) and then in a two-person touring production of Neil Simon’s Last of the Red-Hot Lovers.

Born in Chicago in 1939, Deuter studied theatre at Drake University and worked briefly in Seattle and San Francisco before returning to his hometown. He worked for a time at the old Goodman School of Drama and appeared in 1967 as Leonce in a Theater on the Lake production of Georg Buchner’s Leonce and Lena. After stints at various day jobs, including retail and a parapsychology institute, Deuter threw himself into acting full-time. His versatility is reflected in his resume—he was even cast in what he said was “mercifully a non-singing role” in The Merry Widow at the Lyric Opera (http://www.lyricopera.org/).

Karzas and Deuter met at a party. “It was a group of theatre people,” Karzas said. “Jim was sitting on the floor. I had seen him at Discount Records, where he was working at the time.” Karzas, who is an opera historian and a long-time contributor to WFMT (his program, “The Recording Horn,” can be heard every Saturday at 4 p.m.) also said that a love of music helped bring them together. “He loved Mozart, and I also loved Mozart. He was more of an instrumental/orchestral person, and I of course was more of an opera person.” Karzas and Deuter discovered they both loved soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Their first date was supposed to be a road trip to Cincinnati to see her perform, but Deuter had to cancel when he ended up in the hospital with appendicitis. “When he got out, I kind of helped nurse him back to health. And that was it,” said Karzas.

Judging by the reminiscences posted on Facebook pages this week, many of his peers remember Deuter as a warm and supportive colleague. Richard Henzel, who often found himself auditioning for the same roles as Deuter, said to Performink, “James was a person who could do all these different kinds of parts—but he was always very dignified, a real gentleman.” The two worked together on a commercial for the Illinois lottery, which Henzel said was “the most fun I ever had on a set,” thanks in part to Deuter. “He was one of the nice people,” said Henzel. “But he was also quite funny and quirky.”

Deuter won a lot of recognition for his role as Boswell in the CBS show Early Edition, which filmed in Chicago in the late 1990s. Henzel and Karzas both recalled that Deuter would make an effort to attend fan conventions in town after the show went off the air, even as his health was beginning to fail.

According to Karzas, Deuter’s last full stage role was in a small part in Shadowlands at the Alliance in Atlanta in January of 2000. “He simply couldn’t maneuver around a stage,” said Karzas. He also made an appearance at the opening for Goodman Theatre ’s new downtown venue in 2000, doing a reading while seated. Karzas notes that “an announcer hired to emcee the event omitted some copy that clarified what was going on, and Jim adlibbed some lines that saved the audience from bewilderment.” Karzas also said, “Though Jim was out of the public eye for several years, he never lost his love of the theatre and of actors.” Deuter also never seemed to yearn for the brass rings of Broadway and Hollywood. “I don’t know if it burned in him to be a star,” said Karzas. “He wanted to do shows that he enjoyed in smaller theatres.”

In addition to Karzas, Deuter is survived by his brother, David, and his twin sister, Marie, as well as many nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and grand-nephews. Services are private, but Karzas has said that memorial contributions may be made to “the Chicago-area theatre company of your choice.”