Early roles and success After college and the army, Segal eventually studied at the
Actors Studio with
Lee Strasberg and at
HB Studio with
Uta Hagen and got a job as an
understudy in the 1956 off-Broadway production of
The Iceman Cometh starring
Jason Robards. He appeared in
Antony and Cleopatra for
Joseph Papp and joined an improvisational group called The Premise, which performed at a
Bleecker Street coffeehouse Segal continued to perform on Broadway with roles in
Gideon (1961–62) by
Paddy Chayefsky, which ran for 236 performances, as well as
Rattle of a Simple Man (1963), an adaptation of a British hit, with
Tammy Grimes and
Edward Woodward. He was signed to a
Columbia Pictures contract in 1961, making his film debut in
The Young Doctors. Segal made several television appearances in the early 1960s, including
Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
Armstrong Circle Theatre, and
Naked City, He also had a small role in
Act One (1963) and a more prominent part in the western
Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964) alongside
Yul Brynner. and the studio then put him under long-term contract. The role ultimately earned him the
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, alongside
Harve Presnell and
Chaim Topol.
Critical acclaim In 1965, Segal played an egocentric painter in an ensemble cast led by
Vivien Leigh and
Lee Marvin in
Stanley Kramer's acclaimed drama
Ship of Fools, which was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. The same year, he also had the title role of a scheming
POW in the well-regarded war drama
King Rat (a role originally meant for
Frank Sinatra) and received acclaim for both performances. In other notable film appearances, he played a secret service agent on assignment in Berlin in
The Quiller Memorandum (1966) (a role originally meant for
Charlton Heston), an
Algerian paratrooper who becomes a leader of the
FLN in
Lost Command (1966), and a
Cagney-esque gangster in
Roger Corman's ''
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). with whom he worked again several times. and cast him again in Woolf'' after
Robert Redford had turned down the role. In the four-person ensemble piece, Segal played the young faculty member, Nick, alongside
Elizabeth Taylor,
Richard Burton, and
Sandy Dennis. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and was later selected for the
National Film Registry, and Segal was nominated for an
Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Leading man For over ten years after his success with
Woolf, Segal received many notable film roles, often working with major filmmakers and becoming a significant figure in the
New Hollywood movement. He starred in
Carl Reiner's celebrated dark comedy ''
Where's Poppa?'' (1970), played the lead role in
Sidney Lumet's
Bye Bye Braverman (1968), starred with
Robert Redford in
Peter Yates's diamond heist comedy
The Hot Rock (1972), starred in the title role of
Paul Mazursky's acclaimed romantic comedy
Blume in Love (1973), and starred alongside
Elliott Gould as a gambling addict in
Robert Altman's
California Split (1974). In one of his most successful roles, Segal played a philandering husband in
Melvin Frank's continental romantic comedy
A Touch of Class (1973) opposite
Glenda Jackson. The film was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture, Jackson won an Oscar for her performance, and Segal won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, which was the second Golden Globe of his career. During this time, he had many other leading roles in various genres. He played a perplexed police detective in
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), a war-weary platoon commander in
The Bridge at Remagen (1969), a man laying waste to his marriage in
Loving (1970), and a hairdresser-turned-
junkie in
Born to Win (1971).
The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), a romantic comedy starring Segal and
Barbra Streisand and written by his former improv teammate Buck Henry, was particularly popular; and though Segal played against type as a dangerous computer scientist in
The Terminal Man (1974), he used his popular appeal as a card shark in
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), as a suburbanite-turned-bank robber in
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), as a heroic ride inspector in
Rollercoaster (1977), and as a wealthy serial restaurant entrepreneur in
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978). Other films starring Segal from this time include ''
The Girl Who Couldn't Say No (1968), Russian Roulette (1975), and The Black Bird'' (1975). During the 1970s and 1980s, Segal appeared as a frequent guest on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and occasionally as a guest host. His appearances were marked by eccentric banter with
Johnny Carson and were usually punctuated by bursts of banjo playing.
The Cold Room (1984), and
The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984). He also starred in two short-lived television series, the semi-autobiographical sitcom
Take Five (1987) and the crime drama ''
Murphy's Law (1988–89). In 1985, he returned to Broadway in a short-lived production of Requiem for a Heavyweight by Rod Serling and in 1990 toured in a play called Double Act''. He later reflected on his career trajectory: In the first 10 years, I was playing all different kinds of things. I loved the variety, and never had the sense of being a leading man but a character actor. Then I got frozen into this "urban" character. About the time of "The Last Married Couple in America" (1980) I remember Natalie (Wood) saying to me ... "It's one typed role after another, and pretty soon you forget everything. You forget why you're here, why you're doing it." Then my marriage started to fall apart ... I was disenchanted, I was turning in on myself, I was doing a lot of self-destructive things ... there were drugs ... I'm also sure I was guilty of spoiled behavior. I think it's impossible when that star rush comes not to get a little full of yourself, which is what I was.
Later career '' cast, 2014 Nevertheless, after this relatively dry period, Segal re-established himself as a successful character actor in the 1990s. Though he appeared in some less-acclaimed films, he also worked with directors such as
Mark Rydell,
Gus Van Sant, Barbra Streisand,
David O. Russell,
Randal Kleiser, and
Ben Stiller, respectively, in well-received films such as
For the Boys (1991),
To Die For (1995),
The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996),
Flirting with Disaster (1996), ''
It's My Party (1996), and The Cable Guy (1996). Additionally, he had guest appearances on various shows such as Murder She Wrote and The Larry Sanders Show and continued to appear in television films such as Seasons of the Heart (1994), Houdini (1998), and The Linda McCartney Story'' (2000). In 1999, he briefly performed in
Yasmina Reza's
Art on Broadway, and in 2001 he reprised his performance in the
West End. From 1997 to 2003, Segal had his most prominent role in years when he starred in the
NBC workplace sitcom
Just Shoot Me! as
Jack Gallo, the successful yet often oblivious owner and publisher of a New York City fashion magazine. For this role, he was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1999 and 2000 as well as a
Satellite Award in 2002. The show, which also starred
David Spade and
Laura San Giacomo, among others, and which once aired between iconic sitcoms
Friends and
Seinfeld, lasted for seven seasons and 148 episodes. After finishing his run on
Just Shoot Me, Segal appeared in supporting roles in films such as
Heights (2005) and
2012 (2009). He and
Jill Clayburgh cameoed as
Jake Gyllenhaal's parents in
Love & Other Drugs (2010), reuniting the co-stars 46 years after they first worked together in
The Terminal Man. Additionally, Segal worked more frequently as a voice actor, including a role in the English-language version of
Studio Ghibli's
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) and a comedic reprisal of his ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
role in a 2018 episode of The Simpsons. His most recent film performance was alongside Christopher Plummer in Elsa & Fred (2014). In other roles, Segal played talent manager Murray Berenson in three episodes of the television series Entourage (2009), guest starred in shows such as Boston Legal, Private Practice, and Pushing Daisies, appeared in comedic short videos such as Chutzpuh, This Is
, and starred in the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35 (2011–2012), alongside his Bye Bye Braverman'' co-star
Jessica Walter. Segal had another success when he starred in the
ABC sitcom
The Goldbergs (2013–2021), playing Albert "Pops" Solomon, the eccentric but lovable grandfather of a semi-autobiographical family based on that of series creator
Adam F. Goldberg. The long-running series entered its eighth season in 2021, and Segal was part of the regular cast up until his death in March of that year. Throughout the show, Segal had appeared in most, though not all, episodes and, as in some of his earlier roles, he played the banjo several times on-screen. In 2017, Segal received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Television. ==Music performances and recordings==