Longtime Suffield Players Icon Passes Away

SUFFIELD, CT — Roger Ochs, who dedicated more than 35 years as an actor, director and board member with the Suffield Players community theater troupe, passed away Sunday. He was 72.

The U.S. Army veteran joined the Players, one of the country's oldest community theater organizations, in 1982, and acted in or directed nearly 20 productions, winning awards on multiple occasions.

According to show history posted on the Players' web site, Ochs made his onstage debut in 1986 in the hilarious rock and roll high school reunion musical Is There Life After High School?. A partial listing of his acting appearances includes Jesus Christ Superstar (1987), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1989), Madwoman of Chaillot (2002), Sweeney Todd (2003), Murder In Mind (2005), The Real Inspector Hound (2007), Desire, Desire, Desire! (2015) and The Mousetrap (2015).

Jesus Christ Superstar won the Moss Hart Award as the best community theater production in New England in 1987, and Ochs won the Best Supporting Actor award for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the 1989 ACT/CONN Drama Festival.

Ochs took the helm as director of at least a half-dozen Suffield Players productions, including Ten Little Indians (2001), Lady Windermere's Fan (2012), A Year In the Death of Eddie Jester (2015), The 39 Steps (2016), A Christmas Pudding II (2017) and New Faces 2018 (2018).

Tributes to Ochs from friends and colleagues have been pouring onto his Facebook page.

• "Roger had an outrageous sense of humor and one of the kindest hearts around. I will always treasure the memories of him both on and off the stage."
• "He had a wonderful sense of humour with just the right amount of curmudgeon."
• "Few people have impacted my life the way you did, as a director, as an actor and as a friend. You were one of my strongest supporters and I always knew I could count on you for honest AND constructive input, as well as some raunchy jokes to keep me from taking myself too seriously."
• "A gentleman and a scholar, while simultaneously a cad and a curmudgeon. No one could tell a story like you, nor inspire a shit-your-pants reaction with a glance quite like you could. I’ve never heard anyone quote Aristophanes with so much invective and so little effort."
• "He tried to hide that gentle and sensitive soul of his behind that gruff and yes, sometimes obnoxious exterior. But his true nature of generosity and kindness always shined through."
• "I am so proud I can say I was able to be in the play he directed for New Faces last summer—which was his final time out as director at Suffield. It won’t be the same here without you, Rog...but maybe a part of you will never leave."

Funeral arrangements for Ochs have not yet been announced.