SOUTHLAND : Actor Vic Tayback of ‘Alice’ Dies

Vic Tayback, the actor who portrayed loudmouth diner owner and fry cook Mel Sharples on the long-running television series “Alice,” died early today in his sleep of a heart attack. He was 60.

Fred Amsel, Tayback’s friend and agent for 20 years, said Tayback was rushed to Glendale Adventist Hospital following the heart attack at about 1 a.m., but could not be revived. Amsel said Tayback, who underwent triple bypass surgery in 1983, was “just fine” on Thursday and had told him he had quit smoking--again.

A popular character actor, Tayback appeared in the motion pictures “Papillon,” “Bullitt,” and “The Choirboys.” His television movies included “They Call It Murder,” “The Night the City Screamed,” “The Jesse Owens Story” and “The Three Kings.”

His character’s poor cooking, which became a running gag on the CBS comedy series for which he was best known, won Tayback a commercial contract for Heinz 57 Sauce. After the “Alice” series ended in 1985, Tayback returned to the stage, appearing in “12 Angry Men” and “Death of a Salesman.”