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Naked Photos of Bob Balaban are available at MaleStars.com. They currently feature over 65,000 Nude Pics, Biographies, Video Clips, Articles, and Movie Reviews of famous stars.

 

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Actresses who appeared with Bob Balaban on screen:

Kirsten Dunst
Julia Roberts
Scarlett Johansson
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Garner
Drew Barrymore
Demi Moore
Jodi Foster
Jodie Foster
Mandy Moore
Julianne Moore
Thora Birch
Elisabeth Shue
Neve Campbell
Parker Posey
Claire Forlani


Bob Balaban
Birthday: August 16, 1945

Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Height: 5' 5"

Below is a complete filmography (list of movies he's appeared in) for Bob Balaban. If you have any corrections or additions, please email us at corrections@actorsofhollywood.com. We'd also be interested in any trivia or other information you have.

 

Biography

Playing a succession of bespectacled, soft-spoken, yet vaguely superior characters, Bob Balaban carved himself a niche as a reliable character actor in the last quarter of the 20th century, while also getting the occasional opportunity to write and direct for the screen. The nephew and cousin of industry personages, Balaban got the acting bug at Colgate University and N.Y.U., inspiring him to study with Uta Hagen and Viola Spolin. After some exposure on and off-Broadway in the late 1960s, Balaban made his film debut in Midnight Cowboy (1969), playing the high school student who meets Jon Voight in the movie theater for a tryst. Working sporadically through the '70s, more in theater and TV than film, Balaban developed a more familiar face with such roles as the cartographer and French translator from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978) and the attorney hired to help Richard Dreyfuss' quadriplegic choose to die in Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981). Balaban's major contribution to the industry in the 1980s was as a director, first of the disappointing Showtime movie The Brass Ring (1983) and then of the macabre weekly TV series Tales of the Darkside (1984) and Amazing Stories (1985). His big-screen directorial debut, the cannibal-themed black comedy Parents (1989), was considered either an objectionable failure by some or a devious cult classic by others; two later forays into directing (My Boyfriend's Back in 1993, The Last Good Time in 1994) were better received.In the 1990s, Balaban returned his focus to acting, especially as he caught on with more regular parts in the latter half of the decade. His most widely seen role was the NBC executive who accepts, then declines, then accepts again the pilot written by George and Jerry on the popular sitcom Seinfeld. His Russell Dalrymple appeared in only six episodes in the 1992-1993 season but was featured prominently in the season finale, lost at sea and presumed dead in his all-consuming quest to win Elaine's affections. It was this Seinfeld gig that netted Balaban the most regular and prominent work of his career in the years that followed. Although often still appearing in serious roles, Balaban indulged his talent for subtle comedy by linking up with actor/director Christopher Guest and appearing in two of his acclaimed faux documentaries, Waiting for Guffman (1996) and Best in Show (2000).Balaban scored a major art-house and critical successes producing and playing one of the main characters in Robert Altman's murder-mystery Gosford Park, and appearing as an ineffective father in Ghost World. That same year he appeared in important supporting roles in such big-budget fare as The Mexican and The Majestic. He maintained his carer in the independent world hooking up again with Christopher Guest for A Mighty Wind, and making a cameo appearance in the Oscar nominated Capote. Balaban appeared in and helped produce the animated Hollywood satire Hopeless Pictures, which ran on IFC in 2005. 2006 proved to be a very busy year for the multi-talented Balaban. In addition to another ollaboration with Guest, For Your Consideration, he played a film critic in M. Nght Shyamalan's The Lady in the Water. He also directed Ralph Finnes and Susan Sarandon in Doris and Bernard.

Movie Credits
For Your Consideration (2006)
[ Christopher Guest ][ Eugene Levy ][ Harry Shearer ][ Michael McKean ][ Fred Willard ]
Dedication (2006)
[ Billy Crudup ][ Tom Wilkinson ][ Gale Harold ][ Martin Freeman ][ Bobby Cannavale ]
Lady in the Water (2006)
[ M. Night Shyamalan ][ Paul Giamatti ][ Jeffrey Wright ][ Jared Harris ][ Doug Jones ]
Capote (2005)
[ Philip Seymour Hoffman ][ Chris Cooper ][ Bruce Greenwood ][ Clifton Collins Jr. ]
Episode #1.2 (2005)
[ Ray Winstone ][ Martin Freeman ][ Richard Griffiths ][ Ricky Gervais ][ Rade Serbedzija ]
Episode #1.1 (2005)
[ Ray Winstone ][ John Lynch ][ Anthony Calf ][ Richard Armitage ]
Gerald L'Ecuyer: A Filmmaker's Journey (2004)
[ Dan Futterman ][ Lothaire Bluteau ]
Scene Stealers (2004)
[ Robert Vaughn ]
Marie and Bruce (2004)
[ Matthew Broderick ][ Campbell Scott ][ Griffin Dunne ][ Robert Gant ]
A Mighty Wind (2003)
[ Christopher Guest ][ Eugene Levy ][ Harry Shearer ][ Michael McKean ][ Fred Willard ]
The Tuxedo (2002)
[ Jackie Chan ][ Jason Isaacs ][ Peter Stormare ][ Romany Malco ]
The Mexican (2001)
[ Brad Pitt ][ Gene Hackman ][ James Gandolfini ][ David Krumholtz ][ J.K. Simmons ]
The Majestic (2001)
[ Matt Damon ][ Jim Carrey ][ Bruce Campbell ][ Rob Reiner ][ Martin Landau ]
Gosford Park (2001)
[ Ryan Phillippe ][ Clive Owen ][ Michael Gambon ][ Robert Altman ][ Jeremy Northam ]
Ghost World (2001)
[ Steve Buscemi ][ Brad Renfro ][ David Cross ][ Bruce Glover ][ Ezra Buzzington ]
Plan B (2001)
[ Paul Sorvino ][ Burt Young ][ Andrew Stevens ]
Best in Show (2000)
[ Christopher Guest ][ Eugene Levy ][ Michael McKean ][ Fred Willard ][ Larry Miller ]
Tex, the Passive-Aggressive Gunslinger (2000)
Three to Tango (1999)
[ John C. McGinley ][ Oliver Platt ][ Dylan McDermott ][ Rick Gomez ][ Perry Lang ]
Natural Selection (1999)
[ David Carradine ][ Stephen Root ]
Jakob the Liar (1999)
[ Robin Williams ][ Liev Schreiber ][ Alan Arkin ][ Michael Jeter ][ Mathieu Kassovitz ]
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
[ John Cusack ][ Jack Black ][ Bill Murray ][ Tim Robbins ][ Cary Elwes ]
Swing Vote (1999)
[ Andy Garcia ][ Ray Walston ][ James Whitmore ][ Harry Belafonte ]
Giving Up the Ghost (1998)
[ Brian Kerwin ]
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
[ Robin Williams ][ Tobey Maguire ][ Woody Allen ][ Paul Giamatti ][ Julia Louis-Dreyfus ]
Clockwatchers (1997)
[ Jamie Kennedy ][ David James Elliott ][ Paul Dooley ][ Joshua Malina ]
The Definite Maybe (1997)
[ Josh Lucas ][ Eric Stoltz ][ Roy Scheider ]
Conversation with the Beast (1996)
Waiting for Guffman (1996)
[ Christopher Guest ][ Eugene Levy ][ David Cross ][ Fred Willard ][ Brian Doyle-Murray ]
The Late Shift (1996)
[ Treat Williams ][ Ed Begley Jr. ][ Ivan Reitman ][ John Michael Higgins ][ Daniel Roebuck ]
Pie in the Sky (1996)
[ John Goodman ][ Wil Wheaton ][ Brent Spiner ][ Josh Charles ][ Peter Riegert ]
Birth of a Legend (1995)
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
[ Billy Crystal ][ Jon Lovitz ][ Jack Palance ][ Daniel Stern ][ David Paymer ]
Greedy (1994)
[ Michael J. Fox ][ Kirk Douglas ][ Phil Hartman ][ Ed Begley Jr. ][ Austin Pendleton ]
For Love or Money (1993)
[ Michael J. Fox ][ Dan Hedaya ][ Udo Kier ][ Erick Avari ][ Anthony Higgins ]
The Shoes (1993)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
[ Nicolas Cage ][ Samuel L. Jackson ][ Brad Dourif ][ Dabney Coleman ][ Giancarlo Esposito ]
The Watch (1992)
The Ticket (1992)
The Pitch (1992)
Bob Roberts (1992)
[ John Cusack ][ Jack Black ][ Alan Rickman ][ Tim Robbins ][ James Spader ]
Little Man Tate (1991)
[ David Hyde Pierce ][ Harry Connick Jr. ][ Josh Mostel ]
Unnatural Pursuits (1991)
[ John Mahoney ][ Alan Bates ][ Paul Guilfoyle ]
Alice (1990)
[ Woody Allen ][ Alec Baldwin ][ William Hurt ][ Joe Mantegna ]
The Face of Fear (1990)
[ William Sadler ][ Kevin Conroy ]
Dead Bang (1989)
[ Ron Jeremy ][ Don Johnson ][ Tate Donovan ][ Michael Jeter ][ Tim Reid ]
End of the Line (1988)
[ Kevin Bacon ][ Clint Howard ][ Bruce McGill ][ Wilford Brimley ]
Invisible Thread (1987)
Back in the World (1985)
2010 (1984)
[ John Lithgow ][ Roy Scheider ][ Keir Dullea ][ Dana Elcar ]
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
[ Richard Dreyfuss ][ John Cassavetes ][ Jeffrey Combs ]
Absence of Malice (1981)
[ Paul Newman ][ Sydney Pollack ][ Wilford Brimley ]
Prince of the City (1981)
[ Lance Henriksen ][ Treat Williams ][ Jerry Orbach ][ Sidney Lumet ][ Lane Smith ]
Altered States (1980)
[ William Hurt ][ John Larroquette ][ George Gaynes ]
Girlfriends (1978)
[ Christopher Guest ][ Eli Wallach ]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
[ Richard Dreyfuss ][ Lance Henriksen ][ Carl Weathers ][ John Williams ]
Report to the Commissioner (1975)
[ Richard Gere ][ Hector Elizondo ][ William Devane ][ Yaphet Kotto ][ Michael Moriarty ]
Bank Shot (1974)
[ George C Scott ][ George C. Scott ][ Harvey Evans ]
A Short Course in War (1971)
Marriage: Year One (1971)
[ Michael Lerner ]
Making It (1971)
[ Dick Van Patten ][ John Fiedler ]
Catch-22 (1970)
[ Jon Voight ][ Martin Sheen ][ Orson Welles ][ Alan Arkin ][ Anthony Perkins ]
The Strawberry Statement (1970)
[ Bruce Davison ][ Bud Cort ][ David Dukes ][ Michael Margotta ]
Me, Natalie (1969)
[ Al Pacino ][ Martin Balsam ]
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
[ Dustin Hoffman ][ Jon Voight ][ M. Emmet Walsh ]

Trivia

  • Cousin of director Burt Balaban and nephew of Barney Balaban.
  • Played the head of NBC in both "Seinfeld" (1990) and The Late Shift (1996) (TV).
  • Son of Elmer Balaban (1909-2001) who was last surviving of seven Balaban brothers who dominated the theater business in Chicago and much of the Midwest. The Balaban boys, sons of immigrant Jewish grocery-store owners in Chicago, built city's first "supercolossal" theaters, the 700-seat Circle and the 2,000-seat Central Park. Bob's Uncle Barney became chairman of Paramount Pictures in Hollywood and wanted to pass the torch to Elmer, but he declined. Elmer has been credited with devising an early version of pay TV, based on a set-top box that would show first-run movies at home by accepting quarters.
  • Published a diary of his experiences working on the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
  • His first cousin, Judith Balaban Quine, is author of "The Bridemaids", a book about her friend, Grace Kelly.
  • Was nominated for Broadway's 1979 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "The Inspector General."
  • Uncles Barney and A. J. Balaban owned ornate movie theaters with Sam Katz, the Balaban & Katz theater chain. Renamed Publix Theaters in 1925, it was acquired by Paramount Pictures. The theater chain became so important to Paramount's fortunes that the company name was changed to Paramount-Publix in 1930. Paramount-Publix went bankrupt in 1933, and was reorganized as Paramount Pictures, Inc. Sam Katz forced co-founder Adolph Zukor to resign, but after Barney Balaban became Paramount president in 1936, he appointed Zukor chairman of the board. Barney Balaban was president of Paramount through the tumultuous years following the 1949 Supreme Court-mandated divestiture of movie production companies from their theater chains. President of Paramount for 28 years, Barney coined "Balaban's Law," which held that a film had to gross three times its negative cost to break even. After the failure of Samuel Bronston's "Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964), which cost million (approximately 5 million in 2003 dollars), Balaban was eased out of Paramount.
  • Uncle Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures from 1936 to 1964,was one of the movie magnates who attended the Waldorf Conference in 1946, in which the blacklist against communists was implemented. A deeply religious man, when asked by his daughter about his complicity with the blacklist, Balaban told her, "I don't think it's okay. There's something about it that's okay, but there's something about it that's terrible, and I don't quite understand it all yet."

Naked Photos of Bob Balaban are available at MaleStars.com. They currently feature over 65,000 Nude Pics, Biographies, Video Clips, Articles, and Movie Reviews of famous stars.

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