Kevin Pollak

Kevin Elliot Pollak was born on October 30, 1957. He is an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and podcast host. With a career spanning over 80 films, Pollak has portrayed memorable characters such as Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal drama A Few Good Men, Jacob Goldman in the comedy Grumpy Old Men and its sequel Grumpier Old Men, Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects, Phillip Green in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and Bobby Chicago in End of Days.
From 2016 to 2022, Pollak played a recurring role in the television series Better Things. Additionally, from 2017 to 2023, he was a regular cast member on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which aired on Amazon.
Kevin Elliot Pollak was born on October 30, 1957, in San Francisco, California. He is the younger son of Elaine Harlow and Robert Pollak. Pollak has one older brother named Craig, who resides in San Jose, California. He attended Pioneer High School in San Jose. Pollak was raised in the Reform Judaism tradition.


As an actor, Kevin Pollak has portrayed a diverse range of characters throughout his career. He is often cast as the best friend, family member, or confidant to leading men, as seen in films like Ricochet (1991), A Few Good Men (1992), Grumpy Old Men (1993) and its sequel Grumpier Old Men (1995), Casino (1995), End of Days (1999), and The Wedding Planner (2001). However, he has also showcased versatility by taking on various other roles, such as portraying a comical brownie in Willow (1988), a criminal in The Usual Suspects (1995), the philandering brother of Sarah Jessica Parker in Miami Rhapsody (1995), and a gangster in The Whole Nine Yards (2000). One of his most significant roles to date was in Deterrence (1999), where he played the main character, a vice president who must take over for a deceased President and deal with a nuclear crisis.


Pollak has also ventured into hosting, briefly hosting Celebrity Poker Showdown in its first season. He portrayed Karl Kreutzfeld in the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room in December 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he had a recurring role as a district attorney on the television series Shark. In March 2008, Pollak played himself in the web series The Writers Room on Crackle. In 2010, he portrayed Sheriff Tom Wagner in Choose.
In 2014, Pollak began a recurring role as Alvin Biletnikoff on the CBS sitcom Mom. His time on the show ended with the death of his character.
Starting in 2016, Pollak played the role of Marion in the FX series Better Things. His character recurred throughout all five seasons.
In 2017, Pollak joined the cast of the Golden Globe-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an original series from Amazon, as Moishe Maisel.
In 2019, Pollak appeared in five episodes of the fourth season of Showtime's Billions, portraying Douglas Mason.


Kevin Pollak made his directorial debut with the horror web series "Vamped Out," which was featured on the internet television platform Babelgum. The ensemble cast included Jason Antoon, Seana Kofoed, Samm Levine, and Pollak himself. The concept for the series originated from a simple joke shared between Antoon and Pollak.
His feature film directorial debut came with the comedy documentary "Misery Loves Comedy," which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The film was eventually sold to Tribeca Film for distribution in North America.
Pollak also directed the comedy film "The Late Bloomer," starring Johnny Simmons, which was released in 2016.


Kevin Pollak's most notable work as a comedian includes his 1991 HBO special "Stop with the Kicking," directed by fellow comedian David Steinberg and produced by comedy writer Martin Olson. His most recent comedy special, "The Littlest Suspect," aired on Showtime in July 2010. Pollak was also recognized by Comedy Central as one of the Top 100 Comedians of All Time.


Kevin Pollak launched the weekly Internet talk show "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show" in April 2009, partnering with Jason Calacanis. The show features in-depth interviews with guests such as film directors Kevin Smith and Mike Binder, comedians Jimmy Pardo and Bill Burr, and actors Nia Vardalos, Illeana Douglas, Bryan Cranston, and many more. The interviews are typically longer than an hour, sometimes exceeding two hours, and delve into topics like the guests' childhoods, their entry into show business, creative inspirations, and unique experiences.
Viewers can interact via chat room during the show, with some questions from the chat room being answered live. Actor Samm Levine serves as the show's "Paul Shaffer."
Recurring segments on the show include:

• "The Larry King Game," where guests perform a bad impression of Larry King and reveal something about themselves in his persona.
• "Tweet Five," where Pollak asks guests five questions from a Twitter user.
• "Who Tweeted," a game where guests guess which female celebrity authored tweets read by the host.
• "You're Not Buffering," a humorous segment where Pollak pretends to freeze mid-statement as if the show is buffering, only to resume and say, "You're not buffering."

In 2012, Pollak launched the podcast "Talkin Walkin," where he interviews guests in character as Christopher Walken. The podcast quickly gained popularity, reaching the top 5 of all comedy podcasts on iTunes.
Additionally, Pollak hosts the comedy improvisation podcast "Alchemy This" on iHeartRadio, featuring a regular cast and various guests.

References

1.  "JUF : Tweens : Celebrities : Kevin Pollak". Juf.org. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
2. ^ "Mercury News: Search Results". Nl.newsbank.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
3. ^ Miller, Gerri (21 November 2018). "'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Is Back in Time for Hanukkah". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
4. ^ "Fresh Chicken and Roadents Populate New Comedy Site". TV Guide. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
5. ^ "You Have 60 Seconds to 'Choose' Who Dies: Your Mom or Dad?". Bloody Disgusting. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
6. ^ "Kevin Pollak (I)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
7. ^ "Vamped Out – Babelgum". Babelgum.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2017.