Actor Mark Blum died at the age of 69 on March 25, 2020, due to complications of the coronavirus after testing positive a week prior (via Los Angeles Times). His wife of 15 years, Janet Zarish, said that Blum suffered from asthma, but had not, as the publication put it, “traveled recently or knowingly been in contact with anyone with the virus.”
Perhaps best known for film and television roles in Crocodile Dundee, Desperately Seeking Susan, Mozart in the Jungle, and the Netflix series You, Blum also starred in several Broadway productions over the course of 40-plus years, such as Lost In Yonkers, The Best Man, and Gus and Al, according to Playbill. “With love and heavy hearts, Playwrights Horizons pays tribute to Mark Blum, a dear longtime friend, and a consummate artist who passed this week,” Playwrights Horizons, a theater company in New York City, tweeted following the news of his passing. “Thank you, Mark, for all you brought to our theater, and to theaters and audiences across the world. We will miss you.”
Dozens of members of the entertainment industry have since mourned Blum’s passing on social media, including the likes of Bernadette Peters, Judith Light, and Madonna. Meanwhile, actress Rosanna Arquette, who starred in Desperately Seeking Susan alongside Blum and Madonna in the mid-’80s, offered her condolences on Twitter, writing in part, “I’m so deeply sad for his family and for his fans. [He] was a wonderful actor and a very good and kind man.”
Written by: Nicki