Bob Balaban

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Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and director, best known for his collaborations with Christopher Guest.

Biography

Personal life

Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor (née Pottasch) and Elmer Balaban. His family was a dominant force in the theatre business; his uncles founded the Balaban and Katz Theatre circuit in Chicago, a chain which included the Chicago and Uptown theatres (a 2006 documentary, Uptown: Portrait of a Palace, features one of these theatres). Balaban and Katz operated some of the most beautiful movie palaces in the United States beginning the 1920s. Bob Balaban's father and his uncle Harry founded the H & E Balaban Corporation in Chicago. H & E Balaban Corporation operated their own movie palaces including the Esquire Theatre in Chicago. They later owned a powerful group of television stations and cable television franchises. His uncle Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures for nearly 30 years from 1936 to 1964. His grandmother's second husband, Sam Katz, was a vice president at MGM beginning in 1936. Sam had early partnered with Bob's uncles Abe, Barney, John and Max to form Balaban and Katz. Sam also served as President of the Publix theatre division of Paramount Pictures.

Balaban is an alumnus of Colgate University and lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his family. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. He is Jewish, with his paternal grandparents having immigrated from Russia to Chicago.

Career

One of his earliest appearances was in 1969's Midnight Cowboy. Among his early roles in the 1970s were those of Orr in Catch-22, and the interpreter David Laughlin in the 1977 Steven Spielberg science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1979 he received a Tony Award nomination for his role in The Inspector General. During the 1980s he appeared in films such as 2010 and directed the Randy Quaid picture Parents.

Balaban has had supporting roles in films such as Bob Roberts, Deconstructing Harry, The Majestic, Lady in the Water and all of Christopher Guest's films: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and recently For Your Consideration.

Balaban appeared in Miami Vice as reporter Ira Stone, a nemesis of G. Gordon Liddy's character. In the 1990s, Balaban had a recurring role as Russell Dalrymple, the fictional president of NBC and eventually Elaine's love interest on Seinfeld. He also played Warren Littlefield, another NBC executive, in The Late Shift, about the battle between Jay Leno and David Letterman for NBC's The Tonight Show. In 1999 Balaban made a guest appearance in the sitcom Friends as Phoebe's Dad Frank Buffay in "The One With Joey's Bag".

In 2001 Balaban produced the Robert Altman picture Gosford Park, for which he received a nomination for Best Picture. He recently appeared in an episode of Entourage as a doctor known for writing prescriptions for medical marijuana.

Balaban is the author of a series of six children's novels featuring a bionic dog named "McGrowl".

References

External links

Balaban and Katz Foundation
Histories and Photos of Balaban and Katz Theatres.
Bob Balaban at the Internet Movie Database
Bob Balaban interview on AMC-TV's Sci-Fi Department webshow