American actor Harvey Evans, also known as a singer and dancer in original Broadway productions of classics like West Side Story, Gypsy, Follies, and Hello, Dolly!, has died. He was 80. Evans' death on Christmas Eve at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, was confirmed to the U. S. media by Lawrence Leritz, Broadway actor, dancer, singer, producer, and director. Leritz said, "He was dearly loved by the Broadway community. Very kind, embracing, funny and always had a smile on his face. I can never remember not being hugged by this loving man." 

Evans, born Harvey Hohnecker, was raised in Cincinnati and was bitten by the acting bug at an early age after he saw a touring production of Song of Norway. In an interview with Playbill, the late actor said, "My entire childhood was spent waiting to graduate from high school so I could go to New York and be in a Broadway show." Evans befriended choreographers Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins in New York in 1955 and made his debut as a dancer on Broadway in the musical, New Girl in Town, starring Gwen Verdon. He also appeared in Broadway's original West Side Story, including the 1961 film version. Later, he changed his name to Evans during the filming of Experiment in Terror in 1962 under Blake Edwards' direction, which had Glenn Ford and Lee Remick in leading roles. 

Other major roles of Evans include Henry Fonda and Margaret Hamilton's revival of Our Town in 1969, while he also came on as a standby during the 80s for Jim Dale in Barnum. He made an appearance in the 1964 Julie Andrews classic Mary Poppins and made a cameo in the 2007 Amy Adams-starrer Enchanted.