David Lawrence Groh

 David Lawrence Groh (May 21, 1939 – February 12, 2008)

He performed with the American Shakespeare Theatre, then went to Great Britain to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright scholarship, and served in the United States Army from 1963 to 1964. On his return to New York City, he studied at The Actors Studio. He made his television debut in silent walk-on parts in two episodes of the Gothic daytime soap opera Dark Shadows on ABC in 1968, but did not garner fame until Rhoda. Groh co-starred in the sitcom Rhoda in which he played Joe Gerard, a New York City building demolition company owner who met and married Rhoda Morgenstern. The show premiered September 9, 1974 and Joe and Rhoda married in the seventh episode. The network gave the marriage much advance publicity, and the episode proved a ratings blockbuster, having drawn some 50 million viewers to become one of television's most-watched single episodes. In season three, the couple separated and later divorced. Groh was dropped to recurring status during season three, and he made only a few guest appearances the following season, before being written out of the show entirely. From 1983 to 1985, Groh played D.L. Brock in the ABC soap opera General Hospital, leaving the show to appear in the off Broadway play Be Happy for Me (1986). Groh also appeared in guest roles on such series as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, L.A. Law, Baywatch, Law & Order, Murder, She Wrote, Melrose Place, The X-Files, and JAG, among others.

He was married three times, and had one son from his second marriage. Groh died on February 12, 2008 of kidney cancer in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 68. He was cremated, and the ashes interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.