Ned Schmidtke (1942-2024)
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Ned Schmidtke - a stage, film & TV actor with a resumé that spans decades - died unexpectedly, after a fall outside his home put him into a coma, just one week before his 82nd birthday.
Best known as Greg Barnard on NBC’s “Another World”, Ned has also appeared on stages across the country from Broadway to LA, including Chicago’s Steppenwolf, Court and American Blues Theatres, as well as an extensive list of film/TV credits. In 1985, he made his Broadway debut (and then joined the National Tour) in “Aren’t We All” with Rex Harrison and Claudette Colbert, and went on to be part of the the 1993 National Tour of “Six Degrees of Separation” with Marlo Thomas. Other theater credits include: Steppenwolf Theatre’s, “Libra” (1994) directed by John Malkovich starring Laurie Meltcalfe; "Nothing Sacred" (Northlight Theatre) for which he was nominated for the 1989 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play; "The Lion in Winter" (Body Politic Theatre) for which he was nominated for the 1991 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role in a Play; "Bad Moon” (1987) with American Blues Theatre at the original Goodman Theatre alongside James Leaming; “Uncle Vanya” and “The Real Thing” (Court Theatre); “Other Desert Cities” (Syracuse Stage); “Ah, Wilderness!”; “The Curse of Oedipus”, “Macbeth”, “Tonight at 8:30” and “You Can’t Take It With You” (Antaeus Theatre); “Groundswell”, “The Pleasure of his Company”, “Sea of Tranquility”, “A Body of Water”, “Blue/Orange”, and “Pericles” (Old Globe Theatre, San Diego); and “Loot” (Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara). He has worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as the Utah, Illinois, and Stratford (Canada) Shakespeare Festivals, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage in Washington DC, The Huntington Theatre in Boston, and the Long Wharf in New Haven. His television credits read like a Who’s Who’s of the first ten years of the milleni, including but by no means limited to, the following credits: “Days of Our Lives”, “Medium”, “Passions”, “Texas”, “West Wing”, “The Practice”, “Malcolm in the Middle”, “Point Pleasant”, “JAG”, “NYPD”, “Judging Amy”, “Without A Trace”, “NCIS”, “Heroes”, “Numb3rs”, “ER”, “24”, “Cold Case”, “Criminal Minds” and “Lie To Me”. Film credits include “The Change-up”, “The Express”, “Accepted”, “Wedding Crashers”, “Uncle Nino”, “Mercury Rising”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, “Music Box”, “Rent-a-Cop, “The Manhattan Project”, and “The Crazies”. For over 40 years, Ned was a proud member of Actors Equity Association and, for much of that time, served as a member of its National Council. He is a 1964 graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin and is an Alumni member of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. Ned is survived by his daughter Lisa Schmidtke Knudsen, his beloved wife, grandchildren and a host of friends and admirers. |