Edgar A. Guest III, an actor and director associated with professional and community theatre groups in the Detroit area, died Feb. 11, The Detroit Free Press reported.

Mr. Guest, 60, died of a heart attack in his Birmingham home, according to the paper.

Over the years, Mr. Guest appeared in nightclubs acts at places such as "The Top of the Pontch," and in theatres including Jeff Daniels' professional Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, MI, and the hybrid student-professional Theatre Company of the University of Detroit Mercy. He acted in the Detroit premiere of Claudia Allen's Roomers, for The Theatre Company.

At the time of his death, he had been cast as entertainment promoter Ted Mack in the world premiere comedy, King Korn Trio, about a teenage amateur performance group in the 1950s, by Arthur Beer. It is to have its debut in March at U D Mercy.

Mr. Guest was also on the board of St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, MI, and was involved with the Marquis Theatre in Northville, MI. His father was the WJR-AM Detroit radio personality Edgar (Bud) Guest Jr. and his grandfather was Michigan poet Edgar Guest.

"He was well-heeled, but he was the most down to earth guy you could know," Detroit actress-director Mary F. Bremer told Playbill On-Line. "He was a lovely guy and a fine actor."

-- By Kenneth Jones