Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 - December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, writer, and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt on television, Richard Gilmore in Gilmore Girls, a ubiquitous narrator for historical programs on The History Channel and in such PBS productions as Nova, and as a spokesman for Dodge automobiles in the 1990s.
For Disney, he portrayed Reverend Michael Hill in The North Avenue Irregulars, Ed Devery in Born Yesterday, Ed Branish in Take Down, Mr. Dingle in My Boyfriend's Back, Nelson Rockefeller in Nixon, Dr. Phillip Wellington in Treasure Buddies, Dr. Norman Shales in Grey's Anatomy, Jack Pierce in Perception and Principal Fred Daly in Hatching Pete. In 1988, he portrayed Graham Sherbourne in the Touchstone Pictures movie Big Business.