City of LA renames Venice private driveway after late actor Orson Bean

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to rename a private driveway adjacent to the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice in honor of the late character actor Orson Bean, a longtime Venice resident who served as a creative curator and frequent performer for the venue.

Bean, 91, died Feb. 7, 2020, when he was struck by two vehicles while crossing Venice Boulevard on his way to the theater to meet his wife, actress Alley Mills, for a performance.

Shortly after his death, City Councilman Mike Bonin introduced a motion to rename a small street known as Pisani Place between Venice Boulevard and Amoroso Court in honor of Bean. While researching the proposal, however, city staffers realized that the roadway had actually been converted into a private driveway.

But Bonin persisted in the renaming effort, and the council on Friday approved the honorary renaming of the driveway.

In his original 2020 motion, Bonin called Bean “a Venice icon, a well-loved local you could see at the Venice Farmers Market when you weren’t seeing him on TV.”

“Married to actress Alley Mills for over 25 years, they were staunch advocates for Venice, receiving the 2016 Venice Spirit Award at the 32nd Abbot Kinney Festival, and most recently became members of the Venice Mar Vista Art Coalition,” the motion states.

“Orson Bean tragically lost his life just steps from his beloved Pacific Resident Theatre, which sits adjacent to Pisani Place,” Bonin wrote. “The Venice community lost a neighbor, community advocate and shining light of optimism and generosity. It is fitting that we rename this portion of Pisani Place in his honor.”

Born Dallas Burrows, Bean was a Tony Award-nominated stage performer who also enjoyed success on the big and small screens and as a stand-up comedian.

His film credits included “Being John Malkovich,” “Equalizer 2” with Denzel Washington, and “Anatomy of a Murder.”

On television, one of his best-known roles was as the shopkeeper Loren Bray on the 1993-98 CBS western “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

More recently, he appeared on “Modern Family” and played Roy Bender, Karen McCluskey’s husband, on the three final seasons of “Desperate Housewives.”

Other TV credits include “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “Forever Fernwood,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and as a panelist on various versions of TV’s “To Tell the Truth.”

Bean’s stage career included starring roles in the Broadway production of “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” with Walter Matthau and Jayne Mansfield, “Subways Are for Sleeping,” “Never Too Late” and “Illya Darling.”