In 1967, he played the supporting role of C. W. Moss in Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde", alongside Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, and Estelle Parsons, for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and won a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The role led to his joke candidacy in 1968 for President of the United States, complete with a campaign song: "Michael J. Pollard for President", recorded by DJ and recording artist Jim Lowe, best known for the 1950s hit "The Green Door". (The record features Pollard himself, asking, "Hey, man...president of "what"...?" and a snippet from real candidate Robert F. Kennedy; Kennedy was assassinated soon after the disc came out, which led many radio stations to refuse to play it.)