# Bob Balaban

Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. Aside from his acting career, Balaban has directed three feature films, in addition to numerous television episodes and films, and was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Gosford Park (2001), in which he also appeared. He is also an author of children's novels.
Balaban has appeared in the Christopher Guest comedies Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006) and in the Wes Anderson films Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018) and The French Dispatch (2021). Balaban's other film roles include the drama Midnight Cowboy (1969); the science fiction films Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Altered States (1980), 2010 (1984), the comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997), and the historical drama Capote (2005).

## Early life and education

Balaban was born to a Jewish family on August 16, 1945, in Chicago, the son of Eleanor (née Pottasch) and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television. His mother acted under the name Eleanor Barry. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Moldova and Ukraine to Chicago, while his mother's family was from Germany, Russia, and Romania.
His uncles were dominant forces in the theatre business; they founded the Balaban and Katz Theatre circuit in Chicago, a chain which included the Chicago and Uptown Theatres. Balaban's father, Elmer, and uncle, Harry, founded the H & E Balaban Corporation in Chicago, which operated its 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 maternal grandmother's second husband, Sam Katz, was a vice president at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer beginning in 1936. Sam had been an early partner of Bob's uncles Abe, Barney, John, and Max in forming Balaban and Katz. Sam served as president of the Publix theatre division of Paramount Pictures.
Balaban began his college career at Colgate University where he joined Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and then transferred to New York University. He studied acting at HB Studio under Uta Hagen.

## Career

Balaban's first notable role was on stage; he created the role of Linus in the original off-Broadway production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1967.
One of his earliest appearances in film was in Midnight Cowboy (1969). In the 1970s, he appeared as Grady Garrett on an episode of Room 222, Orr in Catch-22, Elliot the Organizer in The Strawberry Statement, 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 including Ken Russell's Altered States (1980) and the 1984 2001: A Space Odyssey sequel 2010 (as Dr. Chandra, the creator of HAL 9000). He also directed the Randy Quaid horror comedy film Parents, and the Armin Mueller-Stahl drama film The Last Good Time (1994).
Balaban had supporting roles in films such as Absence of Malice, Bob Roberts, Deconstructing Harry, Ghost World, The Majestic, Lady in the Water, and Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.
Balaban appeared on television in Miami Vice as reporter Ira Stone. In the 1990s, he had a recurring role on the fourth season of Seinfeld as Russell Dalrymple, the fictional president of NBC. He played Warren Littlefield, a real-world NBC executive, in The Late Shift, a 1996 television movie 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 Buffay's father Frank in "The One with Joey's Bag".
Balaban co-produced Gosford Park (2001), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. He also appeared in the movie as Morris Weissman, a Hollywood producer. In 2006, he directed the film Bernard and Doris, starring Susan Sarandon. The following year, he made a guest appearance in an episode of Entourage as a doctor known for writing prescriptions for medical marijuana. Balaban directed the 2009 biopic Georgia O'Keeffe, starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. In 2010, he appeared as Judge Clayton Horn, the real-life judge who presided over the obscenity trial of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Bookstore in the movie Howl.
Alongside Morgan Freeman and John Lithgow, Balaban appeared onstage in September 2011 as Judge Vaughn Walker in the Broadway debut of the play 8, which depicts the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The production was held at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
In 2012, Balaban directed four episodes of the Showtime series Nurse Jackie, and voiced the audiobook version of Warren Littlefield's autobiography, Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV.
Balaban performed in the short radio play Milton Bradley by Peter Sagal in January 2016, for Playing on Air, a non-profit organization that "records short plays [for public radio and podcast] written by top playwrights and performed by outstanding actors."
In early 2021, Balaban provided the voice of the narrator in The Simpsons episode "The Dad-Feelings Limited".

### Writing

Balaban wrote a series of six children's novels featuring a bionic dog named McGrowl. He also co-authored Spielberg, Truffaut & Me: An Actor's Diary with Steven Spielberg and The Creature from the Seventh Grade: Sink or Swim (Creature from the Seventh Grade, #2) which Andy Rash illustrated. He also wrote the book, Close Encounters of the Third Kind Diary.

## Personal life

Balaban is married to Lynn Grossman; they have two daughters. He resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is a member of the board of the Exoneration Initiative, a charity dedicated to exonerating wrongfully-convicted people in New York.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1969 | Midnight Cowboy | The Young Student – New York | |
| 1969 | Me, Natalie | Morris | |
| 1970 | The Strawberry Statement | Elliot | |
| 1970 | Catch-22 | Capt. Orr | |
| 1971 | Making It | Wilkie | |
| 1974 | Bank Shot | Victor Karp | credited as Robert Balaban |
| 1975 | Report to the Commissioner | Joey Egan | credited as Robert Balaban |
| 1977 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | David Laughlin | |
| 1978 | Girlfriends | Martin | |
| 1980 | Altered States | Arthur Rosenberg | |
| 1981 | Prince of the City | Santimassino | |
| 1981 | Absence of Malice | Elliott Rosen | |
| 1981 | Whose Life Is It Anyway? | Carter Hill | |
| 1984 | 2010: The Year We Make Contact | Dr. Chandra | |
| 1987 | End of the Line | Warren Gerber | |
| 1989 | Dead Bang | Elliot Webly | |
| 1990 | Alice | Sid Moscowitz | |
| 1991 | Little Man Tate | Quizmaster | Uncredited |
| 1992 | Bob Roberts | Michael Janes | |
| 1993 | Amos & Andrew | Dr. R.A. 'Roy' Fink | |
| 1993 | For Love or Money | Ed Drinkwater | |
| 1994 | Greedy | Edward "Eddie" Ault | |
| 1994 | City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold | Dr. Jeffrey Sanborn | Uncredited |
| 1995 | Pie in the Sky | Paul Entamen | |
| 1996 | Waiting for Guffman | Lloyd Miller | |
| 1996 | Conversation with the Beast | Webster | |
| 1997 | Clockwatchers | Milton Lasky | |
| 1997 | Deconstructing Harry | Richard | |
| 1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Harry Hopkins | |
| 1999 | Jakob the Liar | Kowalsky | |
| 1999 | Three to Tango | Decker | |
| 2000 | Best in Show | Dr. Theodore W. Millbank, III | |
| 2001 | The Mexican | Bernie Nayman | |
| 2001 | Ghost World | Mr. Coleslaw | |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Morris Weissman | Also producer/writer |
| 2001 | The Majestic | Elvin Clyde | |
| 2002 | The Tuxedo | Winton Chalmers | Uncredited |
| 2003 | A Mighty Wind | Jonathan Steinbloom | |
| 2004 | Marie and Bruce | Roger | |
| 2005 | Capote | William Shawn | |
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Tobey's Therapist | Uncredited |
| 2006 | Lady in the Water | Harry Farber | |
| 2006 | For Your Consideration | Philip Koontz | |
| 2007 | Dedication | Arthur Planck | |
| 2007 | License to Wed | Jewelry Store Clerk | Uncredited |
| 2007 | No Reservations | Therapist | |
| 2009 | Rage | Mr. White | |
| 2010 | Howl | Judge Clayton Horn | |
| 2011 | Thin Ice | Leonard Dahl | |
| 2011 | A Monster in Paris | Inspector Pâté | Voice only |
| 2012 | Moonrise Kingdom | Narrator | |
| 2012 | Girl Most Likely | Mr. Duncan | |
| 2013 | Fading Gigolo | Sol | |
| 2014 | The Monuments Men | Pvt. Preston Savitz | |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | M. Martin | |
| 2015 | Hitchcock/Truffaut | Narrator | |
| 2016 | Mascots | Sol Lumpkin | |
| 2016 | I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House | Mr. Waxcap | |
| 2018 | Isle of Dogs | King | Voice only |
| 2018 | An L.A. Minute | Shelly | |
| 2021 | The French Dispatch | Uncle Nick | |
| 2023 | 80 for Brady | Mark | |
| 2023 | Asteroid City | Larkings Executive | |
| 2025 | Fantasy Life | Lenny | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Hank | Harvey | Episode: "Will The Real Harvey Wheatley Please Stand Up?" |
| 1969 | Room 222 | Grady Garrett | Episode: "Father & Sons" |
| 1971–1972 | The Mod Squad | Walter / Tony | 2 episodes |
| 1971 | Love, American Style | Nick | Episode: "Love and the Fuzz" |
| 1976 | Maude | Ambrose Riley | Episode: "Maude's Ex-Convict" |
| 1985–1986 | Miami Vice | Ira Stone | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Amazing Stories | Jo-Jo Gillespie | Episode: "Gershwin's Trunk" |
| 1990 | The Face of Fear | Ira Preduski | Television movie |
| 1992–1993 | Seinfeld | Russell Dalrymple | 5 episodes |
| 1995 | Legend | Harry Parver | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | The Late Shift | Warren Littlefield | Television movie |
| 1998 | Friends | Frank Buffay Sr. | Episode: "The One with Joey's Bag" |
| 1999 | Swing Vote | Justice Eli MacCorckle | Television movie |
| 1999 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Expert Witness" |
| 2000 | The West Wing | Ted Marcus | Episode: "20 Hours in L.A." |
| 2000 | Now and Again | Frederick Lizzard | Episode: "Lizzard's Tale" |
| 2002 | The Education of Max Bickford | Dr. Lowell Sherman | Episode: "I Never Schlunged My Father" |
| 2006 | Tom Goes to the Mayor | Walt Pickle (voice) | Episode: "The Layover" |
| 2007 | Entourage | Doctor | Episode: "The Dream Team" |
| 2008 | Recount | Ben Ginsberg | Television movie |
| 2011 | Web Therapy | Ted Mitchell | Episode: "Shrink Rap" |
| 2011–2012 | The Good Wife | Gordon Higgs | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight | Lawyer | Television movie |
| 2013 | Family Tree | Melvin Schmelff / Tumbleweed Tim | Episode: "Cowboys" |
| 2013–2015 | Girls | Mr. Rice | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | Alpha House | Senator Elliot Robeson | 2 episodes |
| 2015–2019 | Broad City | Arthur Wexler | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Himself (as mascot of the ATF) | Episode: "Paid Family Leave" |
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | Judge Leonard Burke Sand | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Crazy Walter | Episode: "Auto Lending" |
| 2016 | Pitch | Frank Reid | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Graves | Secretary Burns | Episode: "Nothing Can Come From Nothing" |
| 2017 | Wormwood | Dr. Harold A. Abramson | 4 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Condor | Reuel Abbott | Main cast, 20 episodes |
| 2018 | Animals | Himself (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | The Politician | Keaton Hobart | Main role |
| 2021 | The Simpsons | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "The Dad-Feelings Limited" |
| 2021 | Summer Camp Island | Gerald (voice) | Episode: "Hark the Gerald Sings" |
| 2021 | The Chair | Elliot Rentz | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | The Harper House | Buck Mastiff / Frederick (voice) | Episode: "Destination Funeral/Making the Lie Real" |
| 2022 | Space Force | Ron (voice) | Episode: "Mad (Buff) Confidence" |
| 2025 | Severance | Mark W. | Season 2 |

### Director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1983 | Tales from the Darkside | Episode: "Trick or Treat (Pilot)" |
| 1983 | The Brass Ring | Television movie |
| 1985 | Amazing Stories | Episode: "Fine Tuning" |
| 1987 | Invisible Thread | Television movie |
| 1989 | Parents | |
| 1991–1992 | Eerie, Indiana | 3 episodes |
| 1993 | My Boyfriend's Back | |
| 1994 | The Last Good Time | |
| 1995 | Legend | Episode: "Revenge of the Herd" |
| 1997 | Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground | Television movie; segment: "The 5:24" |
| 1998 | Oz | Episode: "Great Men" |
| 1999 | Strangers with Candy | Episode: "Jerri Is Only Skin Deep" |
| 2000 | Now and Again | Episode: "Lizzard's Tale" |
| 2000 | Deadline | Episode: "Perception" |
| 2001 | Dead Last | 2 episodes |
| 2002–2003 | The Twilight Zone | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | The Exonerated | Television movie |
| 2008 | Bernard and Doris | Television movie |
| 2008 | Swingtown | Episode: "Go Your Own Way" |
| 2009 | Georgia O'Keeffe | Television movie |
| 2011–2012 | Nurse Jackie | 4 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Alpha House | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Graves | 2 episodes |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 1967 | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | Linus van Pelt | Theatre 80, Off-Broadway |
| 1968 | Plaza Suite | Borden Eisler/Bellhop | Plymouth Theatre, Broadway |
| 1977 | Some of My Best Friends | Lawrence Mumford | Longacre Theatre, Broadway |
| 1978 | The Inspector General | Óssip | Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway |
| 1988 | Speed-the-Plow | Charlie Fox | Royale Theatre, Broadway |
| 2011 | 8 | Judge Vaughn Walker | Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway |
| 2014 | A Delicate Balance | Henry | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |

### Podcasts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Wolverine: The Long Night | Joseph Langrock | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Project | Result |
| 2001 | Academy Awards | Best Picture | Gosford Park | Nominated |
| 2001 | British Academy Film Awards | Outstanding British Film | Gosford Park | Won |
| 2009 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Bernard and Doris | Nominated |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | Recount | Nominated |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Television Movie | Bernard and Doris | Nominated |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie | Bernard and Doris | Nominated |
| 2010 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie | Georgia O'Keeffe | Nominated |
| 1979 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Play | The Inspector General | Nominated |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture | Gosford Park | Won |
| 2005 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture | Capote | Nominated |