Bruce Gray, 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Star, Dies at 81

The veteran actor, best known to fellow Canadians as the investment banker Adam Cunningham on 'Traders,' died Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Bruce Gray, known to Americans as the father of the groom in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and to fellow Canadians for playing investment banker Adam Cunningham on the 1990s TV drama Traders, has died. He was 81.

Gray died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a battle with brain cancer, his Toronto agent Jennifer Goldhar confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Born on Sept. 7, 1936, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Canadian parents, Gray returned at age 13 to Toronto, before completing high school at Humberside Collegiate and graduating from the University of Toronto with a psychology degree. In 1960, Gray headed to London, England, where he co-starred onstage with a young Donald Sutherland in Androcles and the Lion at the Mermaid Theatre.

During the rest of the 1960s, Gray divided his time between stage work on both sides of the border, and stints on soaps like General Hospital and All My Children. By 1970, Gray was living in New York City and doing national stage tours for Godspell, The Beggar's Opera and My Fat Friend, performing opposite Patty Duke.

As a member of New York’s Circle Repertory Company, Gray played the title role in A.R. Gurney’s Who Killed Richard Cory? And he played Osric to William Hurt’s titular role in Hamlet in 1979, while also performing opposite Kim Hunter on the daytime soap The Edge of Night.

Gray returned to Toronto in 1977 to star on the Canadian TV series High Hopes, and in 1980 moved to Los Angeles to guest star on series like Beverly Hills 90210, Chicago Hope, Murphy Brown, Melrose Place, Nowhere Man, Wings and ER. His other TV credits included Picket Fences and playing Ted Hartley, Jessica Fletcher’s (Angela Lansbury) harried publisher, on Murder, She Wrote for 10 years from 1984.

Gray's more recent parts included playing Yuthers on How I Met Your Mother, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and a co-starring role in the Canadian indie Don't Talk to Irene.

"Bruce was not only an amazingly talented actor, but an incredible role model on set. He charmed the entire cast and crew of Don’t Talk to Irene with his warmth, generosity and incredible wit," the movie's producer, Alyson Richards, told The Hollywood Reporter.