Mike Nussbaum has died at the age of 99.
The veteran character actor – who was best known for his role as Gentle Rosenberg in ‘Men in Black’ passed away on Saturday (23.12.23) morning at his home in Chicago, less than a week before he was due to turn 100.
His daughter Karen told TMZ she was by his side when he died in bed due to old age.
She added: “It was his time.”
Mike – who was one of the oldest living actors still working in the industry – had been receiving hospice care for a year until his death.
He also appeared in movies including ‘Fatal Attraction’, ‘Field of Dreams’, ‘Desperate Hours’, ‘House of Games’, ‘Things Change’, and ‘Gladiator’, with his last big screen credit coming in 2020’s ‘Tom of Your Life’.
In TV, Mike appeared in the likes of ‘Frasier’, ‘Cupid’, ‘The X-Files’, ‘Early Edition’ and ‘The Commish’, and he was also a prolific stage actor, including performing in a production of ‘Hamlet’ at the age of 95.
The actor -who had three children with late first wife Annette Brenner – previously credited his long career to “luck”.
He told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper in 2019: “I’m lucky. Genetic luck. I work out and I try to eat sensibly. I gave up smoking about 50 years ago. It’s just pure luck.”
And he found “balance” by basing himself in Chicago, rather than Los Angeles or New York.
He explained: “I think that being an actor in Chicago, over a number of years, is the most satisfying life I could imagine.
“I found New York and LA to be… antithetic to art. The desire for fame, the desire for glory, for money, is overwhelming in both cities.
“Although I had some success in both cities, I decided my life was more balanced here. I enjoy getting on the bus to go downtown and have someone come up and say, ‘I loved you in such-and-such’.”
