| Kevin Pollak | |
|---|---|
Pollak in March 2008 |
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| Born | Kevin Elliot Pollak October 30, 1957 San Francisco |
| Occupation | Actor/comedian |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Website | |
| http://kevinpollak.net | |
Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, impressionist, game show host, and comedian. He started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 10 and touring professionally at the age of 20. In 1988, Pollak landed a role in George Lucas’ Willow, directed by Ron Howard, and began his acting career.
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Pollak was born in San Francisco, the eldest son of Elaine Harlow and Robert "Bobby" Pollak. He has one younger sister and one younger brother. He has since moved to and currently resides in San Francisco. His parents live in Chicago, his sister lives in Reno, Nevada and his brother resides with his family in Boston.[1] He attended high school at Pioneer High School in San Jose.
As an actor, Pollak's most notable roles are usually playing the best friend or confidant characters to the leading men, as he did in Ricochet (1991), A Few Good Men (1992), End of Days (1999) and The Wedding Planner (2001). However, Pollak has also played a wide variety of parts; he played a criminal in The Usual Suspects (1995) and a gangster in The Whole Nine Yards (2000). He also briefly hosted Celebrity Poker Showdown in its first season. His most substantial role to date was in Deterrence (1999), in which he played the main character: a Vice President who must take over for a deceased President and deal with a nuclear crisis.
In December 2006, he played Karl Kreutzfeld in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room. Through 2008, he had a recurring role as a District Attorney on the television series Shark. In March 2008, Pollak played himself in the web series The Writers Room on Crackle.[2] In 2010, he portrayed Sheriff Tom Wagner in Choose.[3]
In January 2010, Pollak was scheduled to host Our Little Genius on FOX, but the series was pulled before it could air on television. Pollak was last seen hosting Million Dollar Money Drop, again on the FOX network at the end of 2010.
Pollak's directorial debut was on the horror web series Vamped Out, featured on the internet television platform Babelgum.[4] Jason Antoon, Seana Kofoed, Samm Levine and Pollak all acted in the ensemble cast, the screenbook was based on a simple joke that Antoon and Pollak had between them.[5]
As a comedian, Pollak's most famous work was his 1992 HBO special Stop With the Kicking, directed by fellow comedian David Steinberg and produced by Boston comedy writer Martin Olson. In July 2009, The Littlest Suspect, his most recent comedy special, was aired on Showtime.
In April 2009, Pollak partnered with Jason Calacanis on a weekly internet talk show, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show. Guests for the show include film directors Kevin Smith and Mike Binder, comedian Jimmy Pardo, and actors Nia Vardalos, Illeana Douglas, Bryan Cranston, Dana Carvey, Matthew Perry, Jon Hamm, Paul Rudd, and Jason Lee. A full list of guests can be found in the main article.
The guest interviews are very in-depth and typically longer than an hour in duration, often exceeding two hours. Common topics include the guests' childhoods, how they got into the business they are in (typically show business), how they got inspired to start certain creative endeavors, and unique experiences they have had while working. Viewers can interact via chat room during the show, and sometimes questions for the guest posed in the chat room are answered live.
The show's self-described "Paul Schaffer" is actor Samm Levine.
Recurring segments on the show include:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Dwight D. Eisenhower (voice) | uncredited[6] |
| 1987 | Million Dollar Mystery | Officer Quinn | first credited role in a motion picture |
| 1988 | Willow | Rool | |
| 1990 | Coming of Age | Brian Brinker | television series |
| 1990 | Avalon | Izzy Kirk | |
| 1991 | L.A. Story | Frank Swan | |
| 1991 | Another You | Phil | |
| 1991 | Morton & Hayes | Chick Morton | television series |
| 1991 | Ricochet | Larry Doyle | |
| 1992 | The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them | Eli | |
| 1992 | A Few Good Men | Lt. Sam Weinberg | |
| 1993 | Indian Summer | Brad Berman | |
| 1993 | Wayne's World 2 | Jerry Segel | |
| 1993 | Grumpy Old Men | Jacob Goldman | |
| 1994 | ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter | Spinlok | Disney World Ride (has since been replaced with Stitch's Great Escape!) |
| 1994 | Clean Slate | Rosenheim | |
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Todd Hockney | National Board of Review Award for Best Cast |
| 1995 | Miami Rhapsody | Jordan Marcus | |
| 1995 | Canadian Bacon | Stu Smiley | |
| 1995 | Casino | Phillip Green | |
| 1995 | Grumpier Old Men | Jacob Goldman | |
| 1995 | Chameleon | Matt Gianni | |
| 1995 | The Drew Carey Show | Mr. Bell | television series, 1st season only |
| 1996 | House Arrest | Ned Beindorf | |
| 1996 | That Thing You Do! | Victor 'Boss Vic Koss' Kosslovich | |
| 1997 | Truth or Consequences, N.M. | Gordon Jacobson | |
| 1998 | Buffalo '66 | TV Sportscaster | |
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Joe Shea | Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1998 | Hoods | Rudy | |
| 1999 | Outside Ozona | Wit Roy | |
| 1999 | Deal of a Lifetime | Jerry | |
| 1999 | She's All That | Wayne Boggs | |
| 1999 | The Sex Monster | Dr. Jerry Berman | |
| 1999 | Deterrence | President Walter Emerson | |
| 1999 | End of Days | Bobby Chicago | Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor (Action/Science-Fiction) |
| 1999 | Work with Me | Jordan Better | television series |
| 2000 | The Whole Nine Yards | Janni Pytor Gogolak | |
| 2000 | Steal This Movie! | Gerry Lefcourt | |
| 2001 | The Wedding Planner | Spinlok | |
| 2001 | 3000 Miles to Graceland | Damitry | |
| 2001 | Dr. Dolittle 2 | Riley/Alligator | |
| 2002 | Stolen Summer | Rabbi Jacobsen | |
| 2002 | Frank McKlusky, C.I. | Ronnie Rosengold | |
| 2002 | Juwanna Mann | Lorne Daniels | |
| 2002 | Mother Ghost | Dr. Norris | |
| 2002 | The Santa Clause 2 | Cupid | |
| 2003 | Rolling Kansas | Agent Brinkley | uncredited |
| 2003 | Blizzard | Archimedes | |
| 2004 | Seven Times Lucky | Harlan | |
| 2004 | The Whole Ten Yards | Lazlo Gogolak | |
| 2004 | Our Time is Up | Dr. Stern | Nominated for Academy Award for Live Action Short Film |
| 2005 | Hostage | Walter Smith | |
| 2005 | Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D | Director (Voice) | |
| 2005 | The Aristocrats | Himself | |
| 2006 | The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause | Cupid | |
| 2006 | The Lost Room | Karl Kreutzfeld | mini-series |
| 2007 | Numb | Tom | |
| 2007 | Shark | D.A. Leo Cutler | television series |
| 2008 | Otis | Eli | |
| 2008 | Picture This | Tom Gilbert | straight to DVD |
| 2008 | Tortured | Dr. Shaw | straight to DVD |
| 2008 | Entourage | Mr. Bob Levine | episode 503 -The All Out Fall Out |
| 2009 | 2:13 | Walter Smith | |
| 2009 | Middle Men | Curt Allmans | |
| 2010 | Columbus Circle | Klandermann | |
| 2010 | Cop Out | Hunsaker | |
| 2010 | Vamped Out | Elliot Finke | web series (also director, creator, writer, and producer) |
| 2011 | Choose | Sheriff Tom Wagner | |
| 2011 | Red State | ASAC Brooks | |
| 2011 | The Big Year | Eli | |
| 2012 | Geezers! | Kevin | post-production |
| 2012 | Chez Upshaw | filming |