Val Avery Remembered as Actor Personified

Arlene Francis and husband, Martin Gable, were longtime friends through the Players’ Club, as was William Saroyan. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer wrote Avery a short play called “Havoc” back in 1975 to be a possible companion piece when Ben Gazzara was about to do “Huey” on Broadway, only to be rejected. Word had it there wasn’t enough in it for Gazzara.

But all was not lost. Avery performed it years later at The Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, during its inaugural season.

Avery also told the story of attending the opener of “The Music Man” with Saroyan and taking him backstage to meet star Robert Preston.

“He said it was amazing to see two men so impressed with one another,” the daughter recalled.

Among the famous actors he appeared with were: Rod Steiger, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Peter Falk, Jack Klugman, Al Pacino, Jackie Gleason, Rodney Dangerfield, Sylvester Stallone, John Belushi, Robert Redford, Teri Garr, Henry Winkler, Sally Fields, Burt Reynolds, Burt Young, Sidney Poitier, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Art Carney, Anthony Quinn and Mickey Rooney.

Avery would slip out of his usual “tough-guy” groove. Sidney Poitier, with whom he had worked in “Edge of the City” (1957), cast him as a bumbling police lieutenant in “Let’s Do It Again” (1975). In another episode of “The Odd Couple,” he played a dentist who invents a type of glue. In the Cheech and Chong film “Up in Smoke,” he played the role of a boss inside an upholstery factory.

One of his last and favorite parts was that of a beloved Italian grandfather in “Over the River and Through the Woods,” which appeared Off-Broadway in 1998.

Fortified with a drink, he enjoyed fixing innocent bystanders with a look and then delivering his classic line, “I’ll eat your liver.” In truth, the man never stopped acting, even in real life.

Avery grew up in West Philadelphia, Penn., in the old neighborhood around 63rd and Locust Streets, which was then composed of Armenian, Jewish and Italian immigrants. He acted in productions of the Armenian Youth Theater. After serving as an Army flight instructor during World War II, he enrolled in the Bessie V. Hicks School of Drama in Philadelphia.

He was a member of the Philadelphia AYF during its inception years. Together with his brother Peter “Stucey” Der Abrahamian, they were familiar fixtures at Armenian dances and other socials.

Avery’s dad, Megerdich, immigrated from Sebastia in 1907 and was able to bring his brothers to the United States. Megerdich’s father, Bedros Der Abrahamian, a priest at the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Sivas, was killed during the Genocide.

Avery’s mother, Arousiag, survived the massacre as a young wife and mother after being saved by an Arab in the Syrian Desert. She brought her sisters to America and started a new family life in Philadelphia.

Her life was portrayed in the factitious story “Mamigon,” penned by writer Jack Hashian, Avery’s cousin, who also wrote the classic spy thriller “The Eiger Sanction,” under the pen name Trevanian.

Avery was married to Margot Stevenson for 56 years, a stage actress mostly known for her role as Margot Lane in the radio show “The Shadow.” Actor Rod Steiger was their best man.

Their life of caring for one another drew no boundaries.

“Attracted at a young age by his swarthy looks, wavy black hair and piercing blue eyes, their differences in background and demeanor made for a great complement to a loving relationship,” said his nephew, Dro Abrahamian. “Their daughter (Margot) cared for them both over the last few years when they were bedridden.”

Avery was seen by the Philadelphia Armenian community as “the local boy who made good.” During the 1960s and 1970s especially, you could hear at church halls from Philly to Boston to Detroit how someone caught a rerun of “Columbo” or a movie featuring Avery.

“When he was not on a set, he made appearances at Armenian functions like the AYF Olympics or the old Philadelphia ARF-sponsored Armenian Week festivities in Atlantic City, NJ, or an April 24th rally in New York,” said his nephew.

He was an avid chef and wine connoisseur, often concocting Armenian dishes remembered from his youth when doing a show or entertaining his peers.

“He wasn’t a Hollywood star by any means but one of the hardest-working, familiar, sustainable and longest-lasting actors you would find,” said his nephew. “Val would constantly view his work as just that and didn’t like talking about the entertainment business in a glamorous fashion.”