Actor, newspaper editor Henny Willis found dead.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Eugene resident Henny Willis, who enlightened his audiences in print and delighted them on stage, was found dead in his home Friday morning. He was 70.

Willis retired from a 38-year career at The Register-Guard last December, serving his final 20 years at the paper as an associate editor and writer of daily editorials. He had been a reporter for 18 years, mainly covering Oregon politics as a one-person bureau at the state Capitol.

"One of the great joys of operating this business is working alongside so many talented colleagues who elect to stake their careers here," said Tony Baker, Register-Guard editor and publisher. "Henny was one of those folks, and the paper is indebted to him for his many, many years as a top-drawer political reporter and later as a key member of the editorial staff. He was a first-class gentleman and a first-class employee."

Willis also was considered an outstanding talent onstage by those who performed and sang alongside him in the local theater and music set. He acted in and directed many plays on local stages, and often sang show tunes with groups of friends in dinner theater productions.

"For a pharmacist and newspaper guy, he was just a fine actor," said local theater producer Ed Ragozzino, who worked frequently with Willis over nearly 40 years.

"I think a lot of people didn't know that until they saw him on the stage," Ragozzino said. "But he knew how to own the stage, and he did it with class."

Willis hailed from Arkansas and served in the U.S. Navy before beginning his career as a pharmacist. He left that work to earn a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, coming to work for The Register-Guard in 1965.

"Henny had the sweetest, most even temper of anyone I've ever known," said Jackman Wilson, The Register-Guard's editorial page editor. "I never saw him get mad - frustrated sometimes, but never mad, even though I probably sometimes gave him reason to be angry.

"He could pull up information about Oregon politics and history from memory, because he'd seen a lot of it first-hand," Wilson said. "Veteran politicians would stop by, and we'd have a hard time getting the interview started because they and Henny would begin reminiscing about all-night Revenue Committee hearings in the 1977 (legislative) session."

Grattan Kerans, a longtime legislator and now a Salem lobbyist, remembered being described in print by Willis as "the attack dog of the Democrats - and he was paying me a compliment."

Kerans also recalled the nights during legislative sessions when Willis helped organize disparate groups - Democrats, Republicans, urban and rural - for singalongs at Salem-area watering holes.

"He was able to have those kinds of friendships across all lines, at all times," Kerans said. "He was a man of the time that we do not have today, and more's the pity."

UO President Dave Frohnmayer served in the legislature during the 1970s when Willis was covering all things political in Oregon.

"He had not only a gifted writing style, but a very human touch," Frohnmayer said. "You knew that if Henny was covering a story, it would always be fair."

He remembered Willis' "earthy, impish sense of humor. He always seemed to have the right comeback line, for every awkward moment."

And there were the nights of camaraderie and entertainment, with Willis at center stage.

"Henny would always lead the singing, and he had this wonderful tenor voice," Frohnmayer said. "When he'd sing `Danny Boy,' everyone would just be quiet and hum along."

Willis pursued his passion for theater and the arts until the death of his wife, Lolette, in 1996.

"I think his heart never healed," Ragozzino said.

Lee Anne Robertson, who often performed with Willis and was a close family friend, said those who knew him best were increasingly concerned about Willis in recent years after the loss of his wife. The cause of his death was not available Friday.

Willis directed or performed in numerous local theater productions, including "Brigadoon," "Once Upon a Mattress," "Guys and Dolls" and, in what many felt was his best work, a starring role as John Adams in "1776."

"That was one of the cornerstone roles of his music career," said Scott Barkhurst of the UO School of Music. "The role of John Adams was the perfect fusion of the worlds of theater and politics."

It was another theater friend, David Sherman, who found Willis on Friday morning.

"Nobody had seen him for several days, and he had a certain routine he went through," Sherman said.

One of Willis' routines, Sherman said, was to have dinner at a nearby restaurant before performances of the Eugene Symphony. The symphony played Thursday night, and Willis wasn't at his usual table for dinner.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eugene's Very Little Theatre at 2350 Hilyard. The family asks that donations be made in Willis' name to the ALS Foundation.