Lew Palter, the actor who played department store boss Isidor Strauss in James Cameron’s Titanic, has died. He was 94 years old. Oppression Hollywood Reporter described him as an accomplished character actor and a respected teacher in the theater department of the California School of the Arts.
Palter died of lung cancer at her home in Los Angeles on May 21, her daughter Katherine Palter told the publication.
He was a native of New York. Palter is best known for her role as one of the Supreme Court justices in The First Monday in October (1981), starring Walter Matthau, Jill Clayburgh, and Barnard Hughes, and also appeared in The Flying Nun, Hill Street Blues, and Los Law. .
Palter joined CalArts in 1971 and served as an acting instructor and principal at Santa Clarita High School until her retirement in 2013. The artist has also given private seminars and lectures across the country and around the world, including in Edinburgh, Carnegie Mellon and UCLA.
Among his thousands of students over the years were Ed Harris, Don Cheadle, and Cecily Strong.
In Titanic (1997), Palter played the role of Isidor Strauss and Elsa Raven played his wife Ida. They become the subject of one of the unforgettable scenes where they cuddle tightly on the bed in the cabin as the waters flow in and the ship’s string quartet sings the hymn “My God is Closer to You”.