"I don't want to be happy; I want to be with you." -as Stanley Roper in Three's Company (1977) Norman Fell was believed to have had a long, bitter and acrimonious feud with actor Jack Klugman that lasted over 40 years. However, it was later revealed that the feud was a hoax and the two actors were actually friends who grew up in the Philadelphia area. Norman Fell (March 24th, 1924 – December 14th, 1998), born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers. Fell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family, and went to Central High School of Philadelphia. In college he studied drama at Temple University after serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Fell is credited with two kills over Japanese fighters while as a gunner on a B-24 "Liberator" bomber aircraft in the Fifth Air Force (Pacific Theater) during the war. Later, Fell honed his craft at The Actors Studio. Although Fell is best known for his television work, he also played minor character roles in several motion pictures, including the original Ocean's 11, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, PT 109, The Graduate, Bullitt, and Catch-22 as Sergeant Towser. He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, The Killers. From 1961-1962 he portrayed Meyer Meyer in the TV series Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. Fell appeared in a episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as the original Mark Slate in The Moonglow Affair (1966). In the episode, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) are incapacitated. April Dancer (Mary Ann Mobley) is assigned to take over the assignment, aided by a middle aged Mark Slate (Norman Fell). For the series, April was recast with Stefanie Powers and Slate was turned into a Brit in his 30s, with Noel Harrison in the role. From 1977-1979 he portrayed the main characters' hardnosed landlord Stanley Roper on the hit TV comedy Three's Company. He continued to play the character as the co-lead with Audra Lindley as his wife Helen on The Ropers, a spin-off which lasted a year in a less favorable time slot. He received his Golden Globe Award in 1979, for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role, for Three's Company. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award, not for Three's Company, but rather for his dramatic performance in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, in which he played the boxing trainer to Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte). His final television appearance was in a cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in 1997. Fell died of cancer in Los Angeles on December 14th, 1998, and was interred there at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery. He was 74 years old. Selected Norman Fell TVography 1st & Ten - If I Didn't Play Football (1990) 12 O'Clock High - The All-American (1966) - An Act of War (1964) 87th Precinct - as Det. Meyer Meyer (30 episodes, 1961-1962) The Alcoa Hour - Finkle's Comet (1956) The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - The Dividing Wall (1963) The Aquanauts - The Rainbow Adventure (1961) Ben Casey - Where Does the Boomerang Go? (1965) - I'll Get on My Ice Floe and Wave Goodbye (1964) The Ben Stiller Show - With Bobcat Goldthwait (1992) Bewitched - I'd Rather Twitch Than Fight (1966) The Bionic Woman - In This Corner, Jaime Sommers (1976) The Blue Knight - Point of View (1976) Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre - Dear Deductible (1966) The Boys - Friars' Club (1989) - Labor Day (1989) - Some Don't Like It Hot (1989) - Gene's Problem (1988) Cain's Hundred - Final Judgment: Alexander Marish (1961) Cannon - The Games Children Play (1975) Charlie's Angels - Angels in Paradise (1977) Checkmate - Hot Wind on a Cold Town (1961) Dan August - as Sgt. Charles Wilentz (26 episodes, 1970-1971) The Defenders - Moment of Truth (1964) The Dick Powell Show - The Last of the Big Spenders (1963) Dr. Kildare - Going Home (1965) - The Tent Dwellers (1965) - A Gift of Love (1965) - Fathers and Daughters (1965) - A Reverence for Life (1965) Crazy Like a Fox - A Fox at the Races (1986) - Some Day My Prints Will Come (1985) East Side/West Side - Not Bad for Openers (1963) The Elgin Hour - Hearts and Hollywood (1954) Ellen - Roommates (as Mr. Roper, 1997) Ellery Queen - The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley (1976) The Eleventh Hour - Five Moments Out of Time (1963) Executive Suite - Re: The Sounds of Silence (1976) Fay - Lillian's Separation (1975) The F.B.I. - The Catalyst (1969) - The Mercenary (1968) - All the Streets Are Silent (1965) Flying Blind - Panic in Neil's Park (1993) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - What's Will Got to Do with It? (as the landlord, 1994) The Fugitive - Stranger in the Mirror (1965) - May God Have Mercy (1965) Good Grief - The Good, the Bad and the Mariachis (1990) The Good Life - The Wrecked Butler (1971) Goodyear Television Playhouse - The Huntress (1954) Griff - Hammerlock (1973) Hooperman - Dog Day Afternoon, Morning and Night (1989) I Spy - The Medarra Block (1967) Insight - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way (1967) - Snow in Summer (1966) The Invaders - The Betrayed (1967) Ironside - Seeing Is Believing (1969) - An Inside Job (1967) Joe & Mabel - Mike (1956) Johnny Staccato - The Man in the Pit (1960) Judd for the Defense - The Sound of the Plastic Axe (1968) Kraft Mystery Theater - Go Look at Roses (1963) Kraft Suspense Theatre - The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 1 and 2 (1963) The Law and Mr. Jones - Lethal Weapons (1961) The Lieutenant - Cool of the Evening (1963) The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams - The Redemption of Ben (1977) Life with Louie - Blinded by Love (1998) The Lloyd Bridges Show - The Sheridan Square (1963) - Gym in January (1963) Love, American Style - Love and the Clinic (1972) - Love and the Good Deal (1969) The Love Boat - Rocky/Julie's Dilemma/Who's Who? (1978) Lucas Tanner - The Noise of a Quiet Weekend (1975) Magnum, P.I. - Solo Flight (1987) A Man Called Shenandoah - Muted Fifes, Muffled Drums (1966) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Moonglow Affair (1966) Mannix - Coffin for a Clown (1967) The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - Be It Ever So Humble (1961) Marcus Welby, M.D. - Catch a Ring That Isn't There (1973) Matlock - The Doctors (1987) Matt Houston - Joey's Here (1982) McCloud - The Park Avenue Rustlers (1972) McMillan & Wife - Love, Honor and Swindle (1975) Medical Center - The World's Balloon (1974) Mr. Novak - And Then I Wrote... (1965) The Munsters Today - Designing Munsters (1988) Murder, She Wrote - Just Another Fish Story (1988) - Dead Heat (1985) The Name of the Game - A Hard Case of the Blues (1969) Needles and Pins - series regular as Nathan Davidson (14 episodes, 1973-1974) O'Hara, U.S. Treasury - Operation: Smokescreen (1972) Out of This World - The Nightmare (1987) The Partridge Family - The Undergraduate (1971) Perry Mason - The Case of the Mythical Monkeys (1960) Peter Gunn - A Kill and a Half (1961) Playwrights '56 - Nick and Letty (1956) The Philco Television Playhouse - Miss Look-Alike (1954) Police Story - One of Our Cops Is Crazy (1977) - Wolf (1974) Rich Man, Poor Man (TV Mini-Series) - Part VIII: Chapters 11 and 12 (1976) - Part V: Chapter 7 (1976) - Part IV: Chapter 6 (1976) - Part III: Chapter 5 (1976) Rhoda - Ida's Doctor (1975) - Chest Pains (1975) Roots: The Next Generations (TV Mini-Series) - Episode #1.7 (1979) The Ropers - series star as Mr. Roper (28 episodes 1979 - 1980) Sam Benedict - Where There's a Will (1962) Simon & Simon - Facets (1985) Sledge Hammer! - They Call Me Mr. Trunk (1987) Star Tonight - Faith and Patience (1956) Starsky and Hutch - Shootout (1975) The Streets of San Francisco - The Thrill Killers: Part 1 and 2 (1976) Sunday Showcase - What Makes Sammy Run? Part 1 and 2 (1959) The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Texas Tea/The Trojan Koopa (1989) - Fred Van Winkle/The Legend of Zelda: Sing for the Unicorn (1989) The Tom Ewell Show - Salesmanship Lesson (1960) Studio One - Twelve Angry Men (1954) Suspense - I, Bradford Charles (1964) Switch - Gaffing the Skim (1976) The Tab Hunter Show - Me and My Shadow (1961) That Girl - Sixty-Five on the Aisle (1968) Three's Company - series regular as Mr. Roper (56 episodes 1976 - 1981) Teachers Only - series regular as Ben Cooper (1982 - 1983) The Twilight Zone - The Convict's Piano (1986) The Trials of O'Brien - How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? (1965) The United States Steel Hour - Hunted (1956) The Untouchables - The Rusty Heller Story (1960) Webster - Almost Home (1986) The Wild Wild West - The Night of the Whirring Death (1966) Selected Norman Fell Filmography 1957 The Violators 1959 Pork Chop Hill Ah, Wilderness! (TV Movie) 1960 Ocean's Eleven The Rat Race Inherit the Wind 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World PT 109 1964 The Hanged Man (TV Movie) Quick Before It Melts The Killers 1967 The Graduate Fitzwilly Ghostbreakers (TV Movie) The Young Warriors 1968 Bullitt The Young Runaways Sergeant Ryker The Secret War of Harry Frigg 1969 If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium Three's a Crowd (TV Movie) 1970 The Boatniks Catch-22 1972 The Heist (TV Movie) 1973 Charley Varrick The Stone Killer 1974 Airport 1975 Thursday's Game (TV Movie) 1975 Death Stalk (TV Movie) Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold 1976 Guardian of the Wilderness Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours (TV Movie) Risko (TV Movie) 1978 The End Rabbit Test 1980 For the Love of It (TV Movie) This Year's Blonde (TV Movie) Dan August: Murder, My Friend (TV Movie) Dan August: Once Is Never Enough (TV Movie) Dan August: The Jealousy Factor (TV Movie) 1981 Paternity The Kinky Coaches and the Pom Pom Pussycats On the Right Track 1983 Uncommon Valor (TV Movie) 1984 The Jesse Owens Story (TV Movie) Don't Ask Me, Ask God (TV Movie) 1985 Transylvania 6-5000 1987 Stripped to Kill 1989 C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud 1990 You're Driving Me Crazy 1991 The Boneyard For the Boys With Friends Like These (Narrator) 1992 The Naked Truth 1993 Hexed 1995 Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare (TV Movie) 1996 The Destiny of Marty Fine 1998 Beach House (as the Landlord) slideshow