Larry Hankin
Larry Michael Hankin is an American character actor, performer, director, comedian and producer. He is known for his major film roles as Charley Butts in "Escape from Alcatraz" (1979), Ace in "Running Scared" (1986), and Carl Alphonse in "Billy Madison" (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobie in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", Sergeant Larry Balzak in "Home Alone", Mr. Heckles in "Friends" and Joe in "Breaking Bad". Early life and Career. Hankin was born to a Jewish family in Queens. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School and Syracuse University. He was homeless at one point. Notable film  and television roles. His first notable supporting role was as Pt. Romero in "Viva Max!" in 1969. Hankin is known for his roles in TV shows "Breaking Bad", "Matlock", "Friends" (as Mr. Heckles) and "Seinfeld" (as Tom Pepper), as well as for his major role in "Escape from Alcatraz" (1979) with Clint Eastwood. He also acted in "How Sweet It Is!" (1968) with Debbie Reynolds and James Garner and the Adam Sandler movie "Billy Madison" (1995). He had cameo appearances in three John Hughes films, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987); "She's Having a Baby" (1988); and "Home Alone" (1990 ); which coincidentally featured Roberts Blossom (playing Old Man Marley), whom he co-starred with in "Escape from Alcatraz". He had brief appearances in "Pretty Woman" as the landlord (1990), as well as minor roles in "Loose Shoes" (1980), "The Sure Thing" (1985), and "Running Scared" (1986). Hankin also appeared in "Married... with Children", as well as one of the Halloween specials of "Home Improvement". Hankin also appeared in three episodes of "" as Gaunt Gary and one episode of "". Hankin and Curtis Armstrong played the hippie entrepreneurs who purchased "Buy the Book" (the bookstore where the titular character works at) on  Ellen. On "Seinfeld", Hankin portrayed Tom Pepper, the actor cast as Kramer on the pilot-within-a-TV-show "Jerry". He portrayed a homeless man in season 5 of "Malcolm in the Middle". He then appeared again with Bryan Cranston in seasons three and five of "Breaking Bad" as junkyard owner Old Joe. He reprised his old role from "Breaking Bad" in the Netflix sequel film "". Other work. One of Hankin's earliest roles was playing the lead character of Farley in the 1964 educational film "Too Tough to Care". In 1977, Hankin appeared in the episode "The Bums vs.  the Reds" of the situation comedy "The San Pedro Beach Bums". He also played Mickey the Bartender in a "WKRP in Cincinnati" episode called "Hotel Oceanview" that also has a cameo appearance by Dr. Joyce Brothers as "Vicky Von Vicky". In 1982, he played the dog catcher that tries to take Sandy in "Annie". In 1980, Hankin's short film "Solly's Diner" earned him and the film's producers a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Hankin was a founding member of the "commedia dell'arte" improvisation group The Committee in 1963, located at an  indoor bocce ball court in San Francisco's North Beach district. He appeared in the Janet Jackson music video for her 1986 hit single "What Have You Done for Me Lately" as a cook/waiter. He recently portrayed a depressed Chechen hitman in the HBO series "Barry" in 2018. In 2021, he appeared in "". Other interests. He has been doing work with the online comedy group "Magic Hugs", and has appeared in a number of their sketches, as well as the series "Baby Mentalist" for Channel 101.