Watkins also compared himself to Parks, who is best known for her refusal to give up her seat for a white passenger on a racially segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.

Speaking to the audience, Watkins said: “We are living now through a modern digital civil rights movement and you could call me the new Rosa Parks, ” Watkins said, before being interrupted by applause.

“I’ve been out there [online], getting canceled left and right over the past few years.

“And you might say, ‘Oh, why is Ron the new digital Rosa Parks?’ Well, I want to get on the bus. I want to get on the Twitter

Peter Scolari, who appeared on the TV series “Newhart” and Girls,” has died

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer

October 22, 2021, 10:34 PM

• 3 min read

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LOS ANGELES — Peter Scolari, a versatile character actor whose television roles included a yuppie producer on “Newhart” and a closeted dad on “Girls” and who was on Broadway with longtime friend Tom Hanks in “Lucky Guy,” has died. He was 66.

Scolari died Friday morning in New York after fighting cancer for two years, according to Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, his manager.

He first gained attention as the then-unknown Hanks’ co-star in the 1980-82 sitcom “Bosom Buddies,” in which their characters disguised themselves as women to live in affordable, females-only housing.

The two actors went on to work together in projects including Hanks’ 1996 movie directorial debut “That Thing You Do!” and in 2013’s “Lucky Guy,” Nora Ephron’s play about newspaper columnist Mike McAlary.

Scolari also performed on Broadway in “Wicked.” “Hairspray” and 2014’s “Bronx Bombers,” in which he played baseball’s Yogi Berra.

“We were friends and colleagues for over 40 years,” Bob Newhart said in a statement to The Associated Press. He said the contributions of on-screen couple Scolari and Julia Duffy in “Newhart” were an “essential part” of the show’s success.

“In life, he was a fantastic person, and it was a joy to work together. He will be sorely missed and his passing at 66 is much too early,” said Newhart, who is 92.

Scolari’s recent roles included Bishop Thomas Marx on the supernatural series “Evil.” Series co-creator Robert King remembered him Tuesday as “just wonderful.”

He was “one of the funniest — sneakily funny — actors we’ve worked with. He always took a nothing scene and found different ways to twist it, and throw in odd pauses that made it jump,” King said on Twitter.

He received three Emmy nominations playing husband to Duffy’s Stephanie and colleague to Newhart’s inn owner and local TV host in the 1982-90 sitcom.

“No better partner,” Duffy posted on Twitter, along with a broken-heart emoji and a photo of a scene in which she and Scolari are dancing a tango.

In 2016, he won an Emmy Award for the role of Ted Horvath, father to Lena Dunham’s Hannah, in “Girls.” In the course of the dramedy created by Dunham, Ted comes out as gay and leaves his wife to find fulfillment.

In an Instagram post, Dunham said she “couldn’t have been raised up by a better TV ‘papa.’ Thank you, Scolari, for every chat between set ups, every hug onscreen and off and every ‘Oh, Jeez.’ We will miss you so much.”

Harvey Fierstein, who starred in “Hairspray,” tweeted there “wasn’t a sweeter man on the planet.”

Scolari’s more than four-decade career included numerous guest roles on series including “ER,” “White Collar” and “Blue Bloods.”

A New York native whose previous marriages ended in divorce, he’s survived by his wife, actor Tracy Shayne, who played opposite him as Berra’s wife in “Bronx Bombers.” Other survivors include his children Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton, and Cali.

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Peter Scolari, the prolific actor who rose to fame on the TV show “Bosom Buddies” with longtime friend Tom Hanks and was nominated for three Emmy Awards for his performance on “Newhart,” died Friday. He was 66.

Scolari, who also starred in Hanks’ films “That Thing You Do!” (1996) and “The Polar Express” (2004), died after battling cancer for two years, his spokeswoman, Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, told The Times. She did not specify what kind of cancer Scolari had.

From 1984 to 1990, Scolari played pretentious but likable TV producer Michael Harris on Bob Newhart’s beloved CBS sitcom. Although he repeatedly missed out on the supporting actor Emmy for that show, Scolari ultimately won the award in 2016 for his guest role on Lena Dunham’s HBO comedy “Girls.” Scolari played Hannah Horvath’s father, Tad, and became the first actor to win an Emmy as a “replacement nominee” when “Veep” actor Peter MacNicol was disqualified over a technicality.

“The only thing that matched his love for his family and his passion for acting was his love of being in service to others,” his wife, Tracy Shayne, said in a statement provided by Sanitsky.

The New York-bred actor got his start in theater and spent seven years at the prestigious Colonnades Theatre Lab alongside Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Jeff Goldblum.

“We were planning on becoming the national theater,” Scolari told The Times in 1991. He was a self-taught student of vaudeville, a professional juggler and an accomplished college athlete.

He also starred in the short-lived sitcoms “Family Album,” “Dweebs” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show,” and did voice work for several animated children’s series, including “Gargoyles,” “Pinky and the Brain” and “Batman.”

He racked up a number of guest credits with work on “The Nanny,” “Touched By an Angel,” “Ally McBeal,” “Reba,” “ER” and “The West Wing.” More recently, Scolari worked on Fox fantasy series “Gotham,” cop procedural “Blue Bloods,” the acclaimed miniseries “Fosse/Verdon” and CBS’ supernatural drama “Evil.”

Scolari was a busy actor onstage as well. He appeared on Broadway in “Hairspray,” “Sly Fox,” “Wicked,” “Magic/Bird” and “The True.” He also co-starred alongside Hanks in “Lucky Guy” in 2013.

He and Hanks remained close friends since their early days on the ABC comedy “Bosom Buddies,” in which they played cross-dressing ad men who moved into an all-female apartment after their building was condemned. Scolari relocated to L.A. from New York for the part.

The show flopped with critics and viewers and went off the air in 1982 but has since become a cult favorite.

“We fought and fought and fought to get the drag element taken out of the show,” Scolari told The Times. “And we never won. … The gimmick killed us.

“We did some of our best work in drag, but that’s because you put two guys, who are as serious about their work as Hanks and I are, in dresses and wigs and Joan Crawford hurt-me pumps and we’re going to go after it in the most aggressive way possible.”

After that, Hanks’ career took off and he won two Oscars. Scolari did a few films but worked mostly on sitcoms and reteamed with Hanks a few times.

“It’s a distant second to me to talk about our professional relationship and what we do as actors to where we are as friends,” Scolari said of Hanks in 1996. “We have been through a lot. We have seen each other go through quite a number of changes and dramas and tribulations.”

However, the comparisons to Hanks dogged him throughout his career.

“Oh, there have been moments when I’ve been irritated and offended,” Scolari told The Times in 1995. “I remember when it became an issue, this almost forced comparison between me and Tom. He’d done ‘Big’ and was on the cover of Time and all this, and we were out golfing together one day and I said, ‘Gee, thanks, pal of mine. Now I go anywhere and everyone says, “Wow, Tom’s got an Academy Award nomination for a comedic role, and you’re just on ‘Newhart.’”'”

After Newhart, Scolari began concentrating on dramatic television roles to reestablish himself as an actor to be taken seriously.

“The shyest extrovert, the most dramatic comedian, the most humble icon. You had lived enough life to know that a TV show was just a TV show, but also to appreciate just what it meant to be allowed to play pretend for a living – and you never let us forget that this job was a privilege,” “Girls” creator and star Dunham wrote Friday on Instagram.

“Becky Ann [Baker] and I loved every second of playing your family and I couldn’t have been raised up by a better TV ‘papa,’” Dunham added. “Thank you, Scolari, for every chat between set ups, every hug onscreen and off and every ‘Oh, Jeez.’ We will miss you so much.”

“Better Call Saul” star Michael McKean, who co-starred with Scolari in Broadway’s “The True,” also tweeted his condolences Friday.

“We knew this was coming. Doesn’t make it easier. RIP, Peter my friend,” McKean wrote.

Scolari is survived by his wife and four children, Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton and Cali.

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Actor Peter Scolari died Friday morning at the age of 66 after a two-year battle with cancer.

The “Bosom Buddies” actor’s passing was confirmed to The Post by his manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky of Wright Entertainment.

Scolari starred, alongside legendary actor and lifelong friend Tom Hanks, in the 1980s ABC sitcom in one of his early TV roles.

He had a 40-plus-year career in Hollywood, starring in iconic films and shows such as “Fosse/Verdon,” “Madoff,” “The Good Fight,” “Murphy Brown,” “The West Wing,” “ER,” “Gotham,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Ally McBeal.” One of his most recent parts was a recurring role as Bishop Thomas Marx in the CBS series “Evil.”

`WireImage One of Peter Scolari’s more recent roles was the recurring part of Bishop Thomas Marx in the CBS’ “Evil.”CBS via Getty Images

For his role as producer Michael Harris on Bob Newhart’s long-running 1980s comedy “Newhart,” Scolari scored three Emmy nominations. For his portrayal of the father of Lena Dunham’s character on the HBO series “Girls,” he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

He also made memorable cameo appearances in Hanks’ films “The Polar Express” and 1996’s “That Thing You Do!”

Scolari also starred in several Broadway productions and appeared in numerous plays and musicals. He starred in 2003’s “Hairspray,” as the Wizard of Oz in “Wicked,” “Sly Fox” in 2004, “Magic/Bird” in 2012 and “Bronx Bombers” in 2014.

Hanks and Scolari shared the spotlight again in 2013 at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre for the 2013 production of “Lucky Guy.”

The “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show” star was an avid juggler, who told The Post in 2016 — shortly after his Emmy win — where he likes to juggle in New York City.

“I’m a good juggler. If you want to court a woman, you need to be able to juggle five balls, fire and knives,” he said at the time. “Before the dog park [was added to] Washington Square Park, I used to go there. Now I go to Riverside Park with my wife and a bag of props and juggle for an hour and a half or two hours, depending on my hands. Afterward, we like to go to the Boat Basin Café. You have to rehydrate after juggling, so I get a Pellegrino water with lime. I never drink alcohol.”

Scolari was married four times and is survived by his fourth wife, Tracy Shayne, and his children, Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton and Cali.

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