[12] In 1973 Zorich and his wife, the award-winning film and stage actress Olympia Dukakis, founded the Whole Theatre Company in Montclair, New Jersey — that state's first resident professional theater.
[14] In the 1976 revival of They Knew What They Wanted, Zorich played middle-aged Napa Valley grape farmer Tony[15] and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
[12] Critic Douglas Watt wrote, "Zorich underlines the heartiness, canniness and energy of Tony -- even after he has suffered that crushing wedding-day accident --- in countless shrewd and effective details.
[12] Critic Frank Scheck wrote, "...Louis Zorich is moving as the store owner trying to cope with the news of his wife's infidelity.
[19] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "Louis Zorich is funny as a nice, helpful, harassed coffee-shop owner who feeds the Muppets in their lean days..."[20] In a TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman (1985), he played Ben, the older brother of Willy Loman.
[21] Zorich appeared as a millionaire in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) with Steve Martin,[2] and played a shady murder victim in the TV crime drama series Columbo.