Veteran Actor Mark Blum, ‘Mozart In The Jungle’ Star, Dies Of Coronavirus At 69

Stage and screen actor Mark Blum died on Wednesday in Manhattan due to complications with coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a statement released by the screen actors guild. He was 69.

Blum starred in the movies Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee. More recently, he appeared in the Netflix series You, the HBO series Succession and the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle.

He was a big player in the Off Broadway scene, often a part of Playwright Horizon’s cast of characters.

With love and heavy hearts, Playwrights Horizons pays tribute to Mark Blum, a dear longtime friend and a consummate artist who passed this week. Thank you, Mark, for all you brought to our theater, and to theaters and audiences across the world. We will miss you. pic.twitter.com/NMVZFB5hPb

— Playwrights Horizons (@phnyc) March 26, 2020

He also appeared on Broadway in the revival of Twelve Angry Men and most recently in the play The Assembled Parties in 2013.

He is survived by his wife, Janet Zarish; his mother; and his sister, Nancy Blum Litt.

Some of his past co-stars remembered his legacy on Twitter:

Mark Blum played my father in my very first film “Getting to Know You”. I was so nervous. He could not have been a kinder human being. He was a wonderful actor and he will be missed. #RIPhttps://t.co/Efy0omDGHY

— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) March 26, 2020

Mark Blum was consistently a great actor and a finer man. We met when I moved to NY & were briefly TV married in 1987. Last Xmas we caught up for over an hour at a party and he was still kind and hilariously sardonic. I adored him. My heart breaks for his beautiful wife Janet. pic.twitter.com/uRT136B3Ma

— Dana Delany (@DanaDelany) March 26, 2020

So sadden by the news that we have lost lovely #MarkBlum to #coronavirus complications. He was a true talent and gentle man. I am better for sharing a stage with him. May angels sing him to his rest. And may his family feel the love he engendered. pic.twitter.com/aBMLcpBln7

— Sharon Lawrence (@sharonlawrence) March 27, 2020

The Broadway community also lost playwright Terrence McNally this week to the coronavirus, he was 81.

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