Martin West, ‘Lord Love a Duck’ and ‘General Hospital’ Actor, Dies at 82

Martin West, who starred in Lord Love a Duck and other 1960s teen comedies before appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Family Plot and John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, died on New Year’s Eve, his family announced. He was 82.

West also is known to veteran General Hospital fans for playing Dr. Phil Brewer on the ABC soap from 1966 to 1975. He was the fourth and last actor to play the role that originated with the daytime serial’s debut in 1963.

In United Artists’ wacky Lord Love a Duck (1966), directed by George Axelrod, West portrayed the love interest of dreamer Tuesday Weld. He’s also the son of Ruth Gordon and the target of Roddy McDowall in the cult classic.

He starred in The Sergeant Was a Lady (1961), A Swingin’ Summer (1965) and The Girls on the Beach (1965) — that one featured performances by the Beach Boys and Lesley Gore — and appeared in other films including The Man From Galveston (1963), Paul Newman’s Harper (1966), Sweet November (1968) and Listen to Me (1989).

West played Phil McKenna on Dallas and Dan Hughes on As the World Turns and showed up on episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, The Virginian, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Ironside, Matlock and L.A. Law during his career.

Born Martin Weixelbaum on Aug. 28, 1937, in Westhampton, N.Y., West played a Union soldier on Broadway in 1959-60 in The Andersonville Trial, starring George C. Scott and directed by José Ferrer. He then made his film debut by portraying a one-armed man who battles timber thieves in Andrew V. McLaglen’s Freckles (1960).

West most recently was a member of the Theatre Artists Workshop of Norwalk, Conn. A memorial service for him will be held there Saturday. 

Survivors include his life partner Ann Chernow, children Jason, Allie and Gabriel, stepson Paul and sister Gail.

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