Bob Balaban
Born	Robert Elmer Balaban August 16, 1945 (1945-08-16) (age 64) Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	Film, television actor

Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author and director.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Personal life 1.2 Career 1.3 Bob Balaban Status 2 Further reading 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor (née Pottasch) and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television.^[1][2] 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^[3] 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 New York 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,^[4] with his paternal grandparents having immigrated from Russia to Chicago.^[5]

[edit] Career

One of his earliest appearances in film was in 1969's Midnight Cowboy. Prior to that, he filled the role of "Linus" in the original New York off-Broadway production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" in 1967.^[6] 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 Altered States and 2010, and directed the Randy Quaid picture Parents.

Balaban has had supporting roles in films such as Absence of Malice, Bob Roberts, Deconstructing Harry, Ghost World, The Majestic, Lady in the Water and all of Christopher Guest's films: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and 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 on the fourth season of Seinfeld as Russell Dalrymple, the fictional president of NBC and eventually Elaine's love interest. He also played Warren Littlefield, a real-world 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 father 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 also appeared in the movie as Morris Weissman, a Hollywood producer. He recently appeared in an episode of Entourage as a doctor known for writing prescriptions for medical marijuana.

Balaban owns the rights for any future movie adaptations of the BBC sitcom Red Dwarf.^{[citation needed]}

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

Balaban is the director of Bernard and Doris.

[edit] Bob Balaban Status

Balaban's work in the Christopher Guest Collection provided the inspiration for a tongue-in-cheek fan's argot. A "Bob Balaban" refers to one of the myriad of obscure actors who appear in more than one of Christopher Guest's movies. Some Bob Balabans include but are not limited to: John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Don Lake, Jane Lynch, Larry Miller, and Jennifer Coolidge.

An important distinction must be noted that not all Guest staples are classified as Bob Balaban. Certain actor's body of work demand that they be noted above Bob Balaban status. These actors are Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Catherine O'Hara and of course Fred Willard.

A point of mild controversy surrounds the apportionment of Ed Begley Jr. Critics argue that Begley's work outside of the Guest Collection commands as much name respect as a Michael McKean. While it is certainly conceded that Begley is a tremendous actor with a world class oeuvre, Ed Begley Jr is still generally viewed as a "Bob Balaban".

[edit] Further reading

• Balaban, David. "The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz", Arcadia Publishing, 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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