OBITUARIES / PASSINGS / Jack Manning

Jack Manning, 93, a character actor with a long and varied career who appeared in “Othello” on Broadway, in dozens of TV guest spots and in films including “The Owl and the Pussycat,” died of natural causes Aug. 31 at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, according to his wife, Francie.

Born in Cincinnati in 1916, Manning acted in college productions at the University of Cincinnati and on radio station WLW. He continued with radio roles after moving to New York in 1941.

That year he landed his first role on Broadway, in “Junior Miss.” He played Roderigo in the 1943-44 production of “Othello” starring Paul Robeson and also starred in “The Tender Trap” in 1954-55 and “Do I Hear a Waltz?” in 1965, among other roles.

On television, starting in the ‘50s and continuing through the ‘80s, Manning had many guest roles in dramatic series and sitcoms, including “Mary Tyler Moore,” “Here’s Lucy,” “Sanford and Son,” “Ironside” and “The Paper Chase.”

Besides “The Owl and the Pussycat” in 1970, Manning had small movie roles in “The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid” (1972) and “The Thief Who Came to Dinner” (1973), as well as bit parts in a string of 1970s Disney comedies.

Manning also taught acting in Southern California and New York.

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William A. “Bill” Schoneberger, an author and aviation historian who wrote “California Wings,” a 1980 account of the state’s aviation pioneers, and served as president of the Aero Club of Southern California when the group owned the massive Spruce Goose wooden airplane, died Aug. 31 at his Santa Barbara home after a long illness. He was 83.