Veteran Guthrie actor Richard Iglewski dies

Longtime Guthrie actor Richard Iglewski has died.

Iglewski performed in more than 85 Guthrie productions between 1985 and 2009. Memorable roles included Oscar Wilde in "Gross Indecency," Fezziwig in "A Christmas Carol" and Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Fellow actor Nat Fuller said Iglewski was a fantastically funny and inventive artist.

"He had a huge voice with a great vocal range," Fuller said. "As I worked with him I was always studying how he would craft a line or finish a sentence. The way that he could pronounce a word to give weight to it was incredible. And so a lot of the characters that he created on the stage were quite indelible."

Guthrie audiences also saw Iglewski perform as The Troll King in "Peer Gynt," Alfieri in "A View from the Bridge" and The Rev. Canon Frederick Chasuble in "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Iglewski, known to friends as Julio, left the stage after a personal tragedy, Fuller said.

"It was well known that he had lost his partner Tim, who had drowned in a river," Fuller recalled. "And after that, he had anxiety when he was performing. He performed for a while and then he was not happy performing, so he decided that it was not for him."

Iglewski was 61.