Harvey Evans, actor, singer, and dancer, who built a reputation for landing roles in original Broadway productions like “West Side Story,” “Follies,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Gypsy”, passed away at age 80.
Evans died on Christmas Eve at the Actors Retirement Home in Englewood, New Jersey reported Lawrence Leritz, friend and actor, dancer, producer and director on Broadway.
“He was hugely loved by the Broadway community. Very friendly, loving, funny and always with a smile. I can’t remember a day when this man didn’t hug me, “Leritz said.
Evans rarely had a leading role on Broadway, but he did earn his spot in unforgettable shows. He starred alongside Angela Lansbury on “Anyone Can Whistle,” and played Barnaby on “Hello, Dolly!” next to Carol Channing, and then next to Betty Grable and Eve Arden.
“When I remember,” Evans told Playbill in 2007, “I think I had a guardian angel who was taking me to the best shows of Broadway’s heyday. I didn’t choose them, they just fell for me ”.
Evans, who was born Harvey Hohnecker, grew up in Cincinnati and fell in love with musical theater after seeing a traveling production of “Song of Norway.”
“My entire childhood was spent waiting to graduate from high school so I could go to New York and be in a Broadway show,” she told Playbill.
Evans came to New York in 1955 and befriended choreographers Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins. His first musical as a Broadway dancer was “New Girl in Town,” starring Gwen Verson and choreographed by Fosse.
His name was changed while filming a small role in the 1962 Blake Edwards film “Experiment in Terror,” which starred Glenn Ford and Lee Remick.
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