Stephen Tobolowsky

Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day[1] and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Memento, as well as such television characters as Commissioner Hugo Jarry (Deadwood), Bob Bishop (Heroes), Sandy Ryerson (Glee), Stu Beggs (Californication and White Famous), Action Jack Barker (Silicon Valley), and Dr. Leslie Berkowitz (One Day at a Time).

Stephen Tobolowsky
Tobolowsky at the 2012 Texas Book Festival
Born	Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (1951-05-30) May 30, 1951 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, author, musician
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Ann Hearn ( m. 1988)
Children	2

Tobolowsky has a monthly audio podcast, The Tobolowsky Files, of autobiographical stories of his acting and personal life.[2] In 2015, he co-hosted a short-lived second podcast, Big Problems – An Advice Podcast, with David Chen.[3] He has also authored three books: The Dangerous Animals Club, Cautionary Tales, and My Adventures With God.

Early life and education

Tobolowsky was born in Dallas, Texas, into a Jewish family from Russia and Poland.[4] He grew up creating imaginative games with his brother, and his story The Dangerous Animals Club paints a picture of how unsupervised children in the 20th century could amuse themselves. He showed talent at baseball, but a serious childhood illness stopped his career as an athlete before it got started. He graduated from Justin F. Kimball High School and Southern Methodist University.[5][6] He received a master's degree from the University of Illinois in 1975.[7] He is a cousin of former Dallas attorney Ira Tobolowsky,[8] who was murdered in his home in 2016—a mystery that remains unsolved.[9] Another cousin (and Ira's brother) is the sculptor George Tobolowsky.[10] Stephen Tobolowsky also played in a band called A Cast of Thousands, which had two songs, "Red, White and Blue" and "I Heard a Voice Last Night", on a compilation of local Dallas bands called A New Hi. Both of these songs featured Steve Vaughan on guitar, who would be later known as Stevie Ray Vaughan.[11]

Career

Tobolowsky has appeared in over 200 films, plus many television projects. He has also worked in the theater, directing and acting in plays in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He directed one movie, Two Idiots in Hollywood, based on his play of the same name. He also co-wrote the film True Stories with David Byrne and Beth Henley.[12] He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for the 2002 revival of Morning’s at Seven.

On October 29, 2009, Tobolowsky started a new podcast on /Film called The Tobolowsky Files, where he tells stories, in a similar fashion to Tobolowsky's film Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party.[13][14] The show was picked up by Public Radio International in 2012.[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Keep My Grave Open	Robert
1984	The Philadelphia Experiment	Barney
1984	Swing Shift	French deMille / Documentary Narrator
1986	Nobody's Fool	Kirk
1987	Spaceballs	Captain of the Guard
1988	Mississippi Burning	Clayton Townley
1988	Two Idiots in Hollywood	Prosecuting Attorney	Also writer and director
1989	Checking Out	Pharmacist
1989	Breaking In	District Attorney
1989	Great Balls of Fire!	Jud Phillips
1989	In Country	Pete
1990	Bird on a Wire	Joe Weyburn
1990	Funny About Love	Hugo
1990	Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael	Mayor Bill Klepler	Credited as Stephen Tobolowski
1990	The Grifters	Jeweler
1990	Mirror, Mirror	Mr. Anderson
1991	Thelma & Louise	Max
1991	My Father, the Hero	Mike
1992	Wedlock	Warden Holliday
1992	Basic Instinct	Dr. Lamott
1992	Where the Day Takes You	Charles
1992	Hero	Wallace
1992	Memoirs of an Invisible Man	Warren Singleton
1992	Single White Female	Mitchell Myerson
1992	Roadside Prophets	Ranger Bob
1992	Sneakers	Dr. Werner Brandes
1993	Josh and S.A.M.	Thom Whitney
1993	Calendar Girl	Antonio Gallo
1993	The Pickle	Mike Krakower
1993	Romeo Is Bleeding	District Attorney	Uncredited
1993	Groundhog Day	Ned Ryerson
1994	Trevor	Father Jon
1994	My Father the Hero	Mike
1994	Radioland Murders	Max Applewhite
1995	Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde	Oliver Mintz
1995	Murder in the First	Mr. Henkin
1996	The Glimmer Man	Christopher Maynard
1996	Power 98	Rick Harris
1996	Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco	Bando	Voice
1997	Boys Life 2	Father John
1997	The Curse of Inferno	Lonnie Martin
1997	Mr. Magoo	Agent Chuck Stupak
1998	An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn	Bill Bardo
1998	Black Dog	McClaren
1998	The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story	Tabaqui	Voice, Video
1998	Around the Fire	Doc
1998	The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars	Calculator	Voice, Video Credited as Stephen Tobolowski
1999	The Insider	Eric Kluster
1999	One Man's Hero	Captain Gaine
1999	Don't Look Under The Bed	Michael McCausland	TV movie
2000	Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes	Dewey Wise
2000	Bossa Nova	Trevor
2000	The Operator	Doc
2000	Memento	Sammy Jankis
2000	Stanley's Gig	Abe Cohen
2001	The Prime Gig	Mick
2001	The Day the World Ended	Principal Ed Turner	TV movie
2001	Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes	Dewey Wise
2001	Freddy Got Fingered	Uncle Neil	Uncredited
2002	Love Liza	Tom Bailey
2002	The Country Bears	Norbert Barrington
2002	Adaptation	Ranger Steve Neely	Scenes cut
2002	Ritual	Dr. Javitz	Uncredited
2003	National Security	Billy Narthax
2003	View from the Top	Frank Thomas	Uncredited
2003	Freaky Friday	Mr. Elton Bates
2003	Frankie and Johnny Are Married	Murray Mintz
2004	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!	George Ruddy
2004	Garfield	Happy Chapman / Walter J. Champman
2004	Little Black Book	Carl
2004	Debating Robert Lee	Debate Judge
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Tom Abernathy
2005	Robots	Bigmouth Executive, Forge	Voice
2005	Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party	Himself
2005	Living 'til the End	Dr. Shaw
2006	The Sasquatch Gang	Ernie Dalrymple
2006	Failure to Launch	Bud
2006	Pope Dreams	Carl Venable
2006	Blind Dating	Dr. Perkins
2006	National Lampoon's Totally Baked: A Potumentary	Jesco Rollins
2007	Wild Hogs	Charley
2007	Boxboarders!	Dr. Stephen James
2007	Loveless in Los Angeles	Jon
2008	The Rainbow Tribe	Principal Sands
2008	Beethoven's Big Break	Sal DeMarco	Video
2009	The Time Traveler's Wife	Dr. Kendrick
2010	Buried	Alan Davenport	Voice
2010	Hard Breakers	Ephraim
2010	Peep World	Ephraim
2011	You May Not Kiss the Bride	Plumber
2011	The Last Ride	Ray
2012	A Little Something on the Side	Larry	Short
2012	The Lorax	Uncle Ubb	Voice
2012	Pearblossom Hwy	Rick Lawler
2014	The Barber	Chief Gary Hardaway
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	Principal Purdy	Voice
2014	Atlas Shrugged: Part III	Dr. Hugh Akston
2014	Christian Mingle	Douglas McCarver
2015	Hollywood Adventures	Wronald Wright
2016	Welcome to the Men's Group	Carl
2016	Six LA Love Stories	Professor John Dobler
2016	The Confirmation	Father Lyons
2016	Guys and Girls Can't Be Friends	Andy
2017	Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown	Andy Gunderson	Voice, Video
2017	Mamaboy	Reverend Weld
2018	Strange Nature	Mayor Paulson	2018 monsters at large
2019	Fractured	Dr. Berthram

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Cocaine and Blue Eyes	TV Clerk	Television film
1985	Alice	Caveman Carl	Episode: "Vera, the Nightbird"
1985	Knots Landing	Steve Comiskey	Episode: "A Man of Good Will"
1985	Falcon Crest	Doctor	Episode: "The Phoenix"
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Russell Phelps	Episode: "Ordinary Hero"
1985	Stir Crazy	Salesman	Episode: "Where's Mary?"
1986	Designing Women	Boyd	Episode: "Design House"
1986	227	Professor	Episode: "We the People"
1987	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Alex	Episode: "Here's Why You Should Never Wear High Heels to the Bank"
1989	Roe vs. Wade	Darryl Horwath	Television film
1989	L.A. Law	Dr. Michael Segal	Episode: "Lie Down and Deliver"
1989	Lifestories	Josh Gant	Episode: "Art Conforti"
1990	Last Flight Out	Doctor Timothy Brandon	Television film
1991	Seinfeld	Tor	Episode: "The Heart Attack"
1991	Tagget	Al Hentz	Television film
1991	Down Home	Honis	Episode: "Mail Order Tran"
1991	Baby Talk	Dr. Ezra Farr	Episode: "The Whiz Kid"
1991	The Marla Hanson Story	Defense Attorney	Television film
1991	Deadly Medicine	Ron Sutton	Television film
1991	Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster	Sergeant Phil Baranski	Television film
1993	Picket Fences	Ben Sasha	Episode: "Be My Valentine"
1993	Civil Wars	Eugene Paxton	Episode: "A Liver Runs Through It"
1993	When Love Kills: The Seduction of John Hearn	Detective Keefe	Television film
1993	Café Americain	Roger	Episode: "Toast of the Town"
1993	Against the Grain	Niles Hardeman	Recurring role
1994	Harts of the West	Dave's former boss	Episode: "Back in the Panties Again"
1994	Blue Skies	Oak	Main role
1995	Dweebs	Karl	Main role
1995	A Whole New Ballgame	Dr. Warner Brakefield	2 episodes
1995	Chicago Hope	Dr. Ted Joseph	2 episodes
1996	The Home Court	Jeffrey Solomon	Episode: "Touched by an Anger"
1996	The Pretender	Dr. Alan Trader	Episode: "Pilot"
1996	Night Visitors	Taylor	Television film
1996	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Principal Flutie	Unaired pilot
1996–1997	Mr. Rhodes	Ray Heary	Main role
1997	The Drew Carey Show	The Councilman	Episode: "The Dog and Pony Show"
1997	The Naked Truth	Vincent Hartford	Episode: "The Birds"
1997	Murder One	Dr. Andross	3 episodes
1997	Promised Land	Fred Argyle	Episode: "Par for the Course"
1997–1998	Life with Louie	(voice)	2 episodes
1998	The Closer	Phil	Episode: "Morality Bites"
1998	Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series	Numericles (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Techno Greeks"
1998	Suddenly Susan	Dr. Gerken	Episode: "Don't Tell"
1998	Vengeance Unlimited	Mayor Bob Laird	Episode: "Eden"
1998-2000	Any Day Now	Mr. Brinkman	2 episodes
1999	Mad About You	Principal Hocksacker	Episode: "Uncle Phil Goes Back to High School"
1999	The Practice	Clyde Burrows	Episode: "Closet Justice"
1999	Don't Look Under the Bed	Michael McCausland	Television film
1999	That '70s Show	The Professor	Episode: "Laurie and the Professor"
1999	Two Guys and a Girl	Father Viteri	Episode: "Berg's New Roommate"
1999	Odd Man Out	Alan Carlson	Episode: "In the Name of the Father"
1999	Snoops	Michael Bench	3 episodes
2000	Manhattan, AZ	Dr. Bob	Recurring role
2000	Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion	B.J. McQueen	Television film
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command	Gil (voice)	Episode: "Mindwarp"
2000	That's Life	Study Advisor Roger Robinson	Episode: "The Screw-Up"
2001	Roswell	Julius Walters	Episode: "Secrets and Lies"
2001	Bull	Mr. Siegel	Episode: "Blood, Flopsweat and Tears"
2001	King of the Hill	Dr. Benson, Burt Halverstrom (voice)	Episode: "The Exterminator"
2001	Off Centre	Milt Flack	Episode: "Swing Time"
2001	The Day the World Ended	Principal Ed Turner	Television film
2001	The Lone Gunmen	Adam Burgess	Episode: "Madam, I'm Adam"
2001	Black River	Mayor Tom Thompson	Television film
2002	Malcolm in the Middle	Mr. Fisher	Episode: "Lois' Makeover"
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Jim Halliwell	Episode: "Malignant"
2002	Do Over	Mr. Meyers	Episode: "The Block Party"
2003	Las Vegas	Donny Rollins	Episode: "Donny, We Hardly Knew Ye"
2003	Kingpin	Dr. Klein's lawyer	Episode: "Black Magic Woman"
2003	Lloyd in Space	(voice)	Episode: "At Home with the Bolts"
2003	Oliver Beene	Ringmaster Bob	Episode: "Divorce-o-Rama"
2003	The Dead Zone	Dr. Jim Pratt	Episode: "Plague"
2003–2005	CSI: Miami	Assistant State Attorney Don Haffman	Recurring role
2004	Will and Grace	Ned Weathers	Episode: "Company"
2004	It's All Relative	Roy	Episode: "Philip in a China Shop"
2004	The West Wing	Dr. Max Milkman	Episode: "The Stormy Present"
2004	Complete Savages	Mr. Frehley	Episode: "Voodude"
2004	Married to the Kellys	Henry Conway	Episode: "Talk Radio"
2004	According to Jim	Dr. Ted	Episode: "The Marriage Bank"
2005	American Dragon: Jake Long	Stan Lipkowski (voice)	Episodes: "Old School Training," "Adventures in Troll-Sitting"
2005	McBride: The Doctor Is Out... Really Out	Harry Evers	Television film
2005	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Len Dunkel	Episode: "The Seder"
2005	The Closer	James Bloom	Episode: "The Butler Did It"
2005	Reba	Judge	Episode: "Grannies Gone Wild"
2005–2006	Deadwood	Hugo Jarry	Recurring role
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Dr. Edward	Episode: "Dead Man's Ridge"
2006	Night Stalker	Titus Berry	Episode: "Timeless"
2006	Desperate Housewives	Bud Penrod	Episode: "No One Is Alone"
2006–2007	Big Day	The Garf	Recurring role
2007	John From Cincinnati	Mark Lewinsky	3 episodes
2007	Entourage	Mayor of Beverly Hills	Episode: "Sorry, Harvey"
2007	Boston Legal	Dr. Alvin Azinabinacroft	Episode: "The Good Lawyer"
2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Joe	Episode: "The Friday Night Slaughter"
2007	The Valley of Light	Littlefield	Television film
2007	Raines	Wally Anderson	Episode: "Stone Dead"
2007–2008	Heroes	Bob Bishop	Recurring role
2008	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Spencer Freiberg	Episode: "Two and a Half Deaths"
2008	Rita Rocks	Bill Bowman	Episode: "Get Off Off of My Cloud"
2009	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Principal James Merrow	2 episodes
2009–2011	Glee	Sandy Ryerson	Recurring role
2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Bill Fantastimart	Episode: "A Fairly Attractive Mind"
2010	True Jackson, VP	Lars Balthazar	Episode: "Saving Snackleberry"
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Edwin Adelson	Episode: "Bullseye"
2011	Community	Professor Peter Sheffield	Episode: "Competitive Wine Tasting"
2011	The Defenders	Judge Gelineau	Episode: "Nevada v. Wayne"
2011	Pound Puppies	Mr. Geekman (voice)	Episode: "Taboo"
2011–2014	Californication	Stu Beggs	Main role
2012	Work It	Dr. David Deutsch	Episode: "Shake Your Moneymaker"
2012–2013	Justified	FBI Agent Jerry Barkley	3 episodes
2012–2016	The Mindy Project	Marc Shulman	4 episodes
2013	Toy Story of Terror!	Ron the Hotel Manager (voice)	Television film
2014–	The Goldbergs	Principal Ball	Main role
2014	Friends with Better Lives	Dr. Adleman	Episode: "Game Sext Match"
2014	Hello Ladies: The Movie	Alan	Television film
2014	The Hotwives	Phil	Recurring role
2015	Big Time in Hollywood, FL	Alan Dolfe	Main role
2015	Dr. Ken	Joe	Episode: "Pilot"
2015	Another Period	Thomas Edison	Episode: "Rejects Beach"
2016	Fuller House	Mr. Gerald	Episode: "The Not-So-Great Escape"
2016	Blunt Talk	Daniel Rudolph	Episode: "Walter Has to Look After Walter"
2016–2017	Silicon Valley	Jack Barker	13 episodes
2016–2017	Justice League Action	Martin Stein (voice)	Recurring role
2017–2020	The Loud House	Principal Huggins (voice)	Recurring role
2017–	One Day at a Time	Dr. Berkowitz	Main role
2017	White Famous	Stu Beggs	3 episodes
2017	We Bare Bears	Stephen (voice)	Episode: "Tubin"
2018	DIY	Mister Wonderworm (voice)	Television film
2019	Schooled	Earl Ball	Recurring role
2019	The Cool Kids	Leonard	Episode: “Margaret Ups Her Game”
2019	Live in Front of a Studio Audience	Harry Bentley	Episode: “Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons“
2019	Green Eggs and Ham	Chad (voice)	Episode: "House"
2020	ThunderCats Roar	Driller (voice)	Episode: "Driller"

Discography

• Glee discography

References

1. "The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 29 – The Classic". slashfilm.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
2. "iTunes - Podcasts - The Tobolowsky Files by PRI". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
3. "Big Problems". Retrieved September 28, 2017.
4. Tablet Magazine: "The Stephen Show Episode 92: Actor Stephen Tobolowsky tells us what it’s really like being Jewish in Hollywood and Esquire writer Stephen Marche breaks down modern gender dynamics" by Stephen Marche retrieved June 2, 2017
5. Currey, Mason. "Stephen Tobolowsky: What I learned in the seventh grade". Slate.com. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
6. Cohen, Susan (November 7, 2012). "Character actor Stephen Tobolowsky writes his first book". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
7. "Stephen Tobolowsky". Retrieved November 23, 2018.
8. Dolsten, Josefin (May 18, 2016). "Who Was Prominent Dallas Lawyer Ira Tobolowsky – and Did 'Jihad' Man Want Him Dead?". Forward. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
9. Thompson, Jamie (May 2017) "‘A Place Where Something Evil Happened’" DMagazine.com | D Magazine
10. Thompson, Jamie (May 2017) "‘A Place Where Something Evil Happened’" DMagazine.com | D Magazine
11. A New Hi (Dallas 1971)
12. Phipps, Keith (August 2, 2011). "Random Roles Stephen Tobolowsky". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
13. Tobolowsky, Stephen (September 16, 2010). "Op-Ed Contributor - They Had Great Character". New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
14. Chapman, Glen (March 16, 2010). "Celebrating Stephen Tobolowsky". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
15. Public Radio International® signs actor, writer Stephen Tobolowsky to create new storytelling series for radio, prnewswire.com; accessed April 8, 2015.

External links

• Stephen Tobolowsky on IMDb
• Stephen Tobolowsky at the TCM Movie Database
• Official website