Published by
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Mike Nussbaum, acknowledged by the Actor’s Equity union as the oldest professional actor in America and a dynamic and yet steadying influence in Chicago theater for decades, died Saturday at home at the age of 99. He was days short of his 100th birthday. And until his final week, he had been participating in dramatic readings and other projects with his friend B.J. Jones, the artistic director of Northlight Theatre in Skokie. Most notably, Nussbaum and Jones had worked recently on a two-character, 15-minute playlet called “Pilot’s Lounge,” written in tribute to Nussbaum by David Mame…