Jack Blessing, Actor on ‘Moonligthing’ and ‘George Lopez,’ Dies at 66
By Mike Barnes
12/26/2017
He also had a regular role on ‘The Naked Truth’ and did voice work on animated films like ‘Megamind’ and ‘ParaNorman’
Jack Blessing, an actor who had recurring roles on such series as The Naked Truth, Moonlighting and George Lopez, has died. He was 66.
Blessing died Nov. 14 at his home in Chatsworth, California, after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his son Ian told The Hollywood Reporter.
Most recently, Blessing was seen as Jack Powers, who with his brother Mel (Mark Tymchyshyn) owned the Powers Aviation business that employed Lopez's character, on the comic's eponymous 2002–07 ABC sitcom.
In 1986, the Baltimore native joined the stylish ABC drama Moonlightingin its third season as MacGillicuddy; he worked at the Blue Moon Detective Agency run by Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis) and tussled often with Curtis Armstrong's Herbert.
On The Naked Truth, the 1995-98 ABC-NBC sitcom that starred Tea Leoni as a tabloid reporter, Blessing portrayed her unbalanced building manager, Mr. Donner.
Early in his career, Blessing starred as Chip Frye opposite Darren McGavin (as Nick Small) on the 1983 Disney-CBS comedy Small & Frye. Both characters were private eyes, and Blessing's could shrink in size to six inches.
Blessing also provided voices for characters in Antz (1998), Open Season (2006), Bee Movie (2007), Megamind (2010), ParaNorman(2012) and Planes (2013) and appeared on the big screen in Heaven's Gate (1980), Galaxy of Terror (1981), Thirteen Days(2000) and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006).
Blessing played Det. Seybolt on the Steven Bochco 1997 miniseries Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer, then reprised the role for the ABC drama that followed. He also played a cop on another Bochco series, Brooklyn South.
His TV resumé included work on M*A*S*H, Family Ties, thirtysomething, The Golden Girls, Northern Exposure, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Touched by an Angel, Mike & Molly, The X-Files and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
In addition to Ian, survivors include his wife of 32 years, Lora Staley Blessing — an actress who appeared in such films as Risky Business and on a 1989 episode of Moonlighting with his husband (they met while working as understudies on a comedy at the Ahmanson Theatre in L.A.) — and son Christopher.
BLESSING, Jack
Born: 7/29/1951, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Died: 11/14/2017, Chatsworth, California, U.S.A.
Jack Blessing's westerns – actor, crew:
Heaven’s Gate – 1980 (emigrant boy)
The Last of His Tribe (TV) – 1992 (Tom Waterman)
Rango – 2011 [ADR group]