Herbert "Herb" Edelman (November 5 1933, Brooklyn, New York – July 21 1996, Woodland Hills, California) was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best-remembered roles was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of Dorothy Zbornak (played by Beatrice Arthur) on the long-running situation comedy, The Golden Girls.

Biography

Before becoming an actor, Edelman studied to become a veterinarian at Cornell University, but left during his first year. After serving in the US Army as an announcer for Armed Forces Radio, he enrolled in Brooklyn College as a Theater student, but eventually dropped out. He later worked as a hotel manager, and as a taxicab driver. One of his fares was director Mike Nichols, who in 1963 cast Edelman in his breakthrough Broadway role, as the bewildered telephone repairman in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. He reprised his role in the 1967 film version (starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda), and appeared in the movie versions of Simon's The Odd Couple (1968) and California Suite (1978). He also appeared in an installment of the Japanese movie series Otoko wa Tsurai yo in 1979.