NEW YORK — A character actor who had minor roles in "Tootsie," ''Taxi Driver" and dozens of other films has died. Willy Switkes (SWIT'-kehs) was 83.
His niece Ellen Switkes says he died of colon cancer on Thursday at a hospice in Rockville, Md.
Willy Switkes was a native of Washington, D.C., and a longtime New York City resident. He appeared in Broadway productions of "The Cherry Orchard" and "A Thousand Clowns" and was an understudy to Buster Keaton during a 1960 tour of "Once Upon a Mattress." His other films include "The French Connection" and "Bananas."
