Michael J. Pollard
With his impish grin, the diminutive Michael J Pollard became a familiar face to moviegoers and television viewers in the 1960s, often in offbeat roles. The stage-trained New Jersey native racked up numerous credits on and off Broadway from his 1958 debut in "Comes a Day," including "A Loss of Roses" (1959), co-starring Warren Beatty, the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" (1960), "Enter Laughing" (1963), as the oddball friend of the leading character, a role he recreated in the 1967 feature version, and Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class" (1978). Pollard entered films with Martin Ritt's "Adventures of a Young Man" (1962) and went on to portray a number of small roles in films ranging from "The Stripper" (1963) to the motorcycle drama "The Wild Angels" (1966). Pollard received his widest exposure in Arthur Penn's groundbreaking "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). For his turn as the getaway-car driver C.W. Moss, he received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Despite the acclaim, Pollard lacked leading man qualities and except for "Little Fauss and Big Halsey" (1970), he was relegated to playing quirky supporting parts. Among his better-known features are "Melvin and Howard" (1980), "Roxanne" (1987), "Tango & Cash" (1989) and "Dick Tracy" (1990).In 1991, Pollard's voice was heard on the animation series "The Toxic Crusaders" (1991). After working on several projects, he was cast as Mr. Cummings in Gavin O'Conner's drama feature "Tumbleweeds" (1999). Since he began his career in the late 1950s, Pollard has been a frequent guest on TV on everything from "The Andy Griffith Show" to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" to "Star Trek." He was a regular in support of Harvey Korman and Valerie Perrine in the short-lived sitcom "Leo and Liz in Beverly Hills" (CBS, 1986). Pollard was formerly married to actress Beth Howland, remembered as Vera in the long-running sitcom "Alice." Michael J. Pollard died on November 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 80.
Photos
Michael J. Pollard
Filmography
Movies
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Toxic Crusaders: The Movie | Psycho (Voice) | - | 2004 |
21% |
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House of 1000 Corpses | Stucky (Character) | $12.6M | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Buried Lies | Ned (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
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Forever Lulu | Hippie (Character) | - | 2000 |
82% |
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Tumbleweeds | Mr. Cummings (Character) | $1.3M | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Merchants of Venus | The Senator (Character) | - | 1998 |
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The Unknown Cyclist | Gabe Sinclair (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stir | Hotel Manager (Character) | - | 1997 |
17% |
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Mad Dog Time | Red Mash (Character) | $102.9K | 1996 |
20% |
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Skeeter | Hopper (Character) | - | 1994 |
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Split Second | The Rat Catcher (Character) | $4.8M | 1992 |
87% |
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Arizona Dream | Fabian (Character) | - | 1992 |
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Motorama | Lou (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet |
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The Art of Dying | Delbert (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet |
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Why Me? | Ralph (Character) | $49.9K | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Over Her Dead Body | Motel Manager (Character) | - | 1990 |
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Working Trash | Palomar (Character) | - | 1990 |
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Enid Is Sleeping | Motel Manager (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Arrival | Lou (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Season of Fear | Bob (Character) | $41.8K | 1989 |
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Fast Food | Bud (Character) | - | 1989 |
50% |
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Next of Kin | Harold (Character) | $15.4M | 1989 |
31% |
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Tango & Cash | Owen (Character) | $61.8M | 1989 |
22% |
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Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland | Herman Miranda (Character) | - | 1989 |
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Night Visitor | Stanley Willard (Character) | $108.4K | 1989 |
71% |
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Scrooged | Herman (Character) | $58.2M | 1988 |
88% |
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Roxanne | Andy (Character) | $34.8M | 1987 |
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The Patriot | Howard (Character) | - | 1986 |
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The American Way | Tesla (Character) | - | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | America | Bob Jolly (Character) | - | 1986 |
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Heated Vengeance | Snake (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Candy, the Stripper | Leotis (Character) | - | 1982 |
91% |
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Melvin and Howard | Little Red (Character) | - | 1980 |
94% |
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Between the Lines | The Hawker (Character) | - | 1977 |
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Four of the Apocalypse | Clem (Character) | - | 1975 |
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Sunday in the Country | Leroy (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Easy Targets | Leonard Marvin (Character) | - | 1974 |
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Dirty Little Billy | Billy Bonney (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Morbo | Unknown (Character) | - | 1972 |
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The Legend of Frenchie King | The Sheriff (Character) | - | 1971 |
33% |
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Little Fauss and Big Halsy | Little Fauss (Character) | - | 1970 |
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Hannibal Brooks | Packy (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Smugglers | Piero (Character) | - | 1968 |
90% |
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Bonnie and Clyde | C.W. Moss (Character) | - | 1967 |
54% |
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Enter Laughing | Marvin (Character) | - | 1967 |
83% |
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The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! | Stanley (airplane mechanic) (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1966 |
63% |
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The Wild Angels | Pigmy (Character) | - | 1966 |
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Summer Magic | Digby Popham (Character) | - | 1963 |
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The Stripper | Jelly (Character) | - | 1963 |
0% |
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Adventures of a Young Man | George (Character) | - | 1962 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jack & Jill | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2000 |
No Score Yet | 96% | Becker | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | L.A. Doctors | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wings | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1995 |
82% | 90% | Tales From the Crypt | Unknown (Character) | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ray Bradbury Theater | Mr. Benedict (Character) | 1992 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Guns of Paradise | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fall Guy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cimarron Strip | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
10% | No Score Yet | The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
80% | 89% | Star Trek | Jahn (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I Spy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | 76% | Lost in Space | The Boy (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mr. Novak | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gunsmoke | Cyrus (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lucy Show | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | 88% | The Andy Griffith Show | Virgil (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dobie Gillis | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959-1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Startime | Unknown (Character) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | 87% | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Hansel Eidelpfeiffer (Character) | 1959 |