Hal Linden is a stage and screen actor, television director, and musician from the United States. Linden began his career in the 1950s as a big band pianist and singer.
The Bronx birthplace of Hal Linden is March 20, 1931. He is the youngest son of Lithuanian Jew Charles Lipshitz, who moved to the US in 1910 and established a printing firm.
Linden wanted to lead a big band and sing. He changed his name before starting a music career because "'Swing and Sway with Harold Lipshitz' just didn't parse."
Linden replaced Sydney Chaplin in Bells Are Ringing on Broadway in 1958. In 1962, he played Billy Crocker in the revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes.
The 1960s hindered Linden's career. He also performed in industrial musicals like Diesel Dazzle (1966) and dubbed English dialogue for foreign films.
Linden revived his music career with a nightclub act after Barney Miller's breakthrough. Linden played the clarinet, sang pop and Broadway tunes with a big band, and described his life and work.
Their 1958 marriage produced four children. Died in 2010. Linden narrated a Harry S. Truman short film at the 1984 Democratic National Convention.