Biographie
Born in The Bronx, New York, the youngest child of Ruth and Abraham Harry Goldenberg (his sisters Gilda and Lael were six and four years his senior, respectively). He attended P.S. 90 in New York before his family moved to Fair Lawn, New Jersey, when he was 12. He attended Fair Lawn High, where he was co-editor of the school paper, a member of the Pen and Quill Society and in his senior year was elected to Phi Theta, the school's drama society. Upon graduation in 1958 he received a partial scholarship.
Harvey's first appearance in a play was in Warren Point Secondary School, where he played the title role in "The King in the Kitchen". His appearances in high school plays included Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the Captain of the Guard in "The Pirates of Penzance" and, in his senior year, the title role in "The Doctor from Dunsmore." He graduated from Boston University's College of Liberal Arts in 1962. In his freshman year at BU he studied under David Pressman, the Neighborhood Playhouse maven. Then he taught elementary school for two years in Paterson, New Jersey. While teaching he did appeared in the softcore film The Love Statue (1965), which dealt with LSD. Soon afterward he made his New York stage debut in The Peppermint Players musical "Jack and the Beanstalk", playing the Giant. That was followed by the short-lived "Village Blues" at the 42nd Street Theater. At Fairleigh Dickenson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, he studied creative writing under Marguerite Young, author of "Miss McIntosh, My Darling." He had a story published in the Watchung (NJ) Weekly and is the author of the book "How to Succeed in the Business There's No Business Like" and five "first" novels. After appearing as the Nephew in the Traveler's Insurance award-winning commercial called "The Reading of the Will", a 60-second spot that co-starred Lou Jacobi as the Attorney and 'Maureen Arthur' as the surprise heiress, Harvey went on to appear in over 100 other commercials, notably the award-winning spoof of Stagecoach (1939) and several Doritos spots starring Avery Schreiber ("The Reading of the Will" was directed by Howard Zieff, who shortly afterward found success directing films like Hearts of the West (1975) and Private Benjamin (981)_).
In 1968 he moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in films with 'George C. Scott', Natalie Wood and Michael Caine and appeared opposite 'Kathleen Freeman' (v) in _The Malibu Bikini Shop (198)_. He also played the marriage license clerk in Phil Alden Robinson's directorial debut, In the Mood (1987). His television appearance go back to N.Y.P.D. (1967) in New York, but extend to shows like That Girl (1966), M*A*S*H (1972), The Golden Girls (1985) and Mr. Belvedere (1985). He also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) three times at a member of the Mighty Carson Arts Players.
