Upper East Side hit-and-run kills Broadway actor
Police were on the hunt Wednesday for a motorist who fatally struck veteran Broadway and film actor Alan Stevenson on the Upper East Side, then fled the scene.
The 89-year-old victim bought a cup of coffee for his doorman at a corner deli around 2:30 a.m. and was crossing the street at East 73rd Street and First Avenue when he was mowed down by a red Mazda Miata, which then fled the scene, police said.
Stevenson's doorman Jim Quinn told WPIX reporters the actor made regular trips to buy him coffee.
"He did this every Monday and Tuesday night for me. He'd go and get the coffee and bring it back for me," Quinn said. He recalled Stevenson's stories of working with actors like Charleton Heston early in his career, and said he was well-known and liked in the neighborhood.
Stevenson purchased the coffee at the S.A.S. Deli at 1371 First Ave., as usual, from deli worker Pablo Catorce, who shed tears at the news of the actor's death.
"I feel bad, you know, because I've known him for 17 years," he said in a televised interview with WPIX. Catorce said he heard a crash outside, and after speaking with Quinn, learned Stevenson had been hit.
Stevenson had roles in the 1977 film "Age of Innocence" and the 1982 film "Murder by Phone," which starred Richard Chamberlain. He also appeared in several Broadway shows in the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
Stevenson was taken to New York Hospital after the hit-and-run and was pronounced dead. A police investigation is ongoing.
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