Acclaimed actor came to Hawaii as a teacher

For an actor who had no formal theater training, Richard Pellett collected his share of local stage laurels and appeared in dozens of productions here — dramas, comedies and musicals.

"He made the spoken word dance, and he never claimed to be an actor," said Vanita Rae Smith, who directed Pellett in 35 of the Readers Theatre shows at Army Community Theatre and also in Pellett’s Po‘okela Award-winning turns in "Shadowlands" and "Driving Miss Daisy" at Manoa Valley Theatre. Pellett’s three other Po‘okela Awards were for roles in Diamond Head Theatre’s "My Fair Lady" and "Born Yesterday" and Hawaii Pacific University’s "Light Up the Sky."

Pellett died Jan. 26 at age 75 of congestive heart failure; he would have been 76 on Feb. 20.

"He was one hell of a performer," Smith said. "He had that personality perfect for the stage."

Jo Pruden, who did numerous plays with Pellett, said, "He loved plays and he loved movies. He had a master’s degree, but not (in) theater, and I think he got most of his acting training through performance," she said.

On a personal level, Pruden said he was an adorable theatrical peer.

"Richard was a good friend, a funny and caring man, and a great storyteller with an infectious belly laugh; you couldn’t help laughing with him."

Pruden, herself a multi-award-winning island actress, said her first show here with Pellett was in 1990, in MVT’s "Driving Miss Daisy." "Then we did ‘Lettice and Lovage’ in 1992 at DHT, ‘Cloud Nine’ at Starving Artists in 1993, ‘Cemetery Club’ in 2000 at MVT," she said.

While Pellett co-starred in stage productions throughout the community, he was best known as a regular on the ACT stage, where he appeared in 40 of 43 Readers Theatre shows.

"He often took the role of the narrator," Smith said of Pellett’s dedication to Readers Theatre. "I directed him in 35 Readers Theatre shows, plus three weeks touring Army bases in Germany. I dearly loved him. He even attended my last show, ‘God of Carnage,’ at Manoa," she said.

Pellett’s health had been deteriorating over the past six years, said Smith.

"Without theater he didn’t know what to do with his life," she said. Pellett’s partner of 40 years, Dean Turner, died Dec. 28, 2006.

"Dean also did theater, so in the earlier years Richard took a back seat; then he did quite a bit of shows for a few years," Pruden said.

Pellett was born in Berkeley, Calif., and majored in political science and speech at the University of California. After serving with a U.S. Army Reserves medical unit in San Antonio from 1958 to 1959, he returned to California to work on his master’s in political science, earning a scholarship to Harvard University in the Master of Arts in Teaching program.

He taught in Beirut and also in Mallorca, Spain, before arriving in Hawaii in 1977 to teach at Sacred Hearts Academy and Saint Francis High School.

The theater community is planning a celebration-of-life ceremony for Pellett, with details to be announced.