
Jack Riley
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1935-12-30
Day of Death
2016-08-19 (80 years old)
Place of Birth
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Jack Riley
Biography
John Albert Riley Jr. (December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He was known for playing Elliot Carlin, a chronic psychology client of the main character on The Bob Newhart Show, and for voicing Stu Pickles, one of the parents in the animated Rugrats franchise.
Riley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. Riley (née Corrigan) and John Albert Riley. After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, he served in the U.S. Army.
After being discharged, Riley became a popular radio personality in Cleveland, along with his radio partner and "straight man" Jeff Baxter; The Baxter & Riley Show on WERE (1300 AM) featured not only music but comedy sketches and a slew of offbeat characters that Riley and Baxter voiced. Riley gave up the radio show in the mid-1960s and moved to Los Angeles, where his Cleveland friend Tim Conway helped him obtain work writing comedy sketches, which later led to acting opportunities.
First a semi-regular in the cast of the 1960s sitcom Occasional Wife, a short-lived show on NBC in which he played Wally Frick, Riley was perhaps most famous for playing Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour, and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show 1972–1978. In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Fun-House, then in 1979, he starred in ABC's holiday telefilm The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (a.k.a. The Night Dracula Saved The World) as Warren the Werewolf (Wolf Man) of Budapest. Riley then, in 1980, appeared in a comedy special for HBO called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter. He was a regular cast member in The Tim Conway Show, a comedy-variety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through late summer 1981, acting in sketch comedy in each episode. In 1985, he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St. Elsewhere, and did so again in a 1987 episode of ALF.
Among his other TV credits are multiple appearances on such shows as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (parodying Lyndon Johnson), M*A*S*H, Barney Miller, Hogan's Heroes, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, One Day at a Time, Gomer Pyle, Diff'rent Strokes, and Night Court. He was also a favorite of Mel Brooks, appearing in several of his films: High Anxiety (1977), History of the World: Part I (1981), To Be or Not to Be (1983), and (cameo only) Spaceballs (1987).
Riley often provided voiceovers for television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine. He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for CompUSA that aired in the 1990s. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Riley was known for voicing Stu Pickles (father of the main protagonist Tommy) in the animated series Rugrats. The franchise consisted of the TV series, the spin-off All Grown Up! and the film trilogy.
He continued to make guest appearances during the 1990s in popular sitcoms, showing up in episodes of Seinfeld, Son of the Beach, Friends, Coach, The Drew Carey Show, That '70s Show, and, in a gag appearance, as an unnamed but obvious Mr. Carlin in a 1988 episode of Newhart. He made a cameo appearance on the November 23, 2013, episode of Saturday Night Live, as a subway passenger during the sketch "Matchbox 3". That episode would be his final acting role.
Known For
Acting
(2009)
(2007)
Avenging Angel
as Elder
(2006)
Room 6
as James Brewster
(2005)
Rugrats: Tales from the Crib: Snow White
as Stu (voice)
(2003)
Rugrats Go Wild
as Stuart 'Stu' Pickles (voice)
(2003)
Burl's
as Gym Instructor
(2001)
Rugrats: All Growed Up
as Stu Pickles (voice)
(2000)
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
as Stu Pickles (voice)
(1998)
The Rugrats Movie
as Stuart 'Stu' Pickles (voice)
(1998)
Chairman of the Board
as Condom Boss
(1997)
Boogie Nights
as Lawyer
(1996)
A Rugrats Chanukah
as Stu Pickles (voice)
(1995)
Theodore Rex
as Alaric
(1994)
A Rugrats Passover
as Stu Pickles (voice)
(1993)
A Dangerous Woman
as Bandleader
(1992)
The Player
as Jack Riley
(1991)
The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special
as Elliot Carlin
(1989)
Gleaming the Cube
as Homeowner
(1989)
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud
as Wade
(1988)
Payback
as Coroner
(1988)
Portrait of a White Marriage
as Roy Bloomer
(1987)
Spaceballs
as TV Newsman
(1987)
Rented Lips
as Herb the Auditor
(1986)
(1985)
The History of White People in America
as Scientist
(1985)
Lots of Luck
as Marvin
(1985)
First The Egg
as Mr. White
(1984)
Night Patrol
as Doctor Ziegler
(1984)
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
as Sexton / Deacon
(1983)
To Be or Not to Be
as Dobish
(1983)
When Your Lover Leaves
as Ralph
(1982)
Frances
as Bob Barnes
(1982)
The Rules of Marriage
as Herb Gallup
(1982)
Love in the Present Tense
as Alex
(1981)
History of the World: Part I
as Stoned Soldier #2 - The Roman Empire
(1980)
Marriage Is Alive and Well
as Owen
(1979)
Butch and Sundance: The Early Days
as Messenger
(1979)
The Halloween That Almost Wasn't
as Wolf Man
(1978)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
as Salesman
(1978)
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
as Citizen (uncredited)
(1977)
High Anxiety
as The Desk Clerk
(1977)
The World's Greatest Lover
as Projectionist
(1976)
Silent Movie
as Executive
(1974)
California Split
as Second Bartender
(1974)
The Bank Shot
as Agent Jackson
(1974)
The Bank Shot
as Jackson
(1973)
The Long Goodbye
as Riley
(1971)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
as Riley Quinn
(1971)
The Todd Killings
as Record Company Executive
(1971)
In Broad Daylight
as Cab Driver #3 (uncredited)
(1970)
Catch-22
as Doctor
(1963)
Days of Wine and Roses
as Waiter (uncredited)