The "Glee" episode "Special Education" sees the glee club group New Directions facing off in a competition with a choir group called the Hipsters. This group isn't made up young, pony-tailed Brooklynites, though, but older singers who prove that age is just a number. They've come back to complete their high school education, and when they do, they take it upon themselves to enter the choir competition. They make a strong showing, too, performing the song "The Living Years," originally by Mike and the Mechanics. One of their members, old man Bill, was played by actor Edmund L. Shaff.
As it happens, Schaff often played officials of some sort or another. He showed up as a presiding judge in episodes of "Days of Our Lives," "Life Goes On," and "The Practice," while playing Dick Cheney in Comedy Central's "That's My Bush!" and other military officials and politicians in titles like "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman" "Falcon Crest," and "Malcolm in the Middle." He also often played religious figures, as ministers, preachers, and priests in "Space: Above and Beyond," "Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas," and "Quantum Leap."
Schaff made one more acting appearance after appearing in "Special Education," in an episode of "Modern Family" before his death. He died in June 2023, just a month after celebrating his 88th birthday.
