Stuart Pankin

Stuart Pankin (born April 8, 1946) is an American film and television actor.

Biography
Pankin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Dickinson College, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Columbia University.

One of Pankin's earliest film appearances was as asthmatic musician/magician Dudley Laywicker in Hollywood Knights. Pankin played Earl Sinclair in the TV sitcom Dinosaurs and the father on the short-lived sitcom Nearly Departed. Pankin was also an anchor on HBO's Not Necessarily the News and has appeared in numerous TV commercials.

Pankin played an Orthodox Jew in Curb Your Enthusiasm. He has also starred in Zenon: Girl of the 21 Century, Zenon: The Zequel, and Zenon: Z3 as Commander Plank. Pankin also appeared in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, as the brother of Wayne Szalinski, and also co-starred as a bossy, self-important lawman in the horror/comedy Arachnophobia. He holds the distinguished honor of being the most obscure reference ever made on an episode of Wrestlecrap Radio as well.

More recently, Pankin also appeared as an absent-minded professor in a series of edutainment 3D films (Encounter in the Third Dimension and Misadventures in 3D), designed for large-screen IMAX theatres. He is currently a spokesman in infomercials for the Phase 4 Orthotics shoe insert.

Although Pankin is well known for comedy roles and game show appearances (e.g., The $100,000 Pyramid), he has sometimes also taken dramatic roles, such as Michael Douglas' friend Jimmy, who attempts to hit on Glenn Close in Adrian Lyne's hit thriller Fatal Attraction.

Pankin also hosts several late-night informercials.

Filmography

 * Scavenger Hunt (1979)
 * The Hollywood Knights (1980)
 * Hangar 18 (1980) as Sam
 * Earthbound (1981)
 * The Dirt Bike Kid (1985)
 * Fatal Attraction (1987) as Jimmy
 * Love at Stake (1988)
 * Second Sight (1989) as Preston Pickett
 * Arachnophobia (1990) as Sheriff Lloyd Parsons
 * Mannequin: On the Move (1991)
 * Life Stinks (1991) as Pritchard
 * The Silence of the Hams (1994) as Pete Putrid
 * Father and Scout (1994) (TV)
 * Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994) as Brother Timothy
 * Beanstalk (1994) as The Giant
 * Congo (1995)
 * Big Bully (1996)
 * Striptease (1996) as Alan Mordecai
 * Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997) (V) as Gordon Szalinski
 * Babylon 5: The River of Souls (1998) (TV) as James Riley
 * Like Father Like Santa (1998) (TV) as Snipes
 * Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999) (TV) as Commander Edward Plank
 * Encounter in the Third Dimension (1999) as The Professor/M.A.X.
 * Zenon: The Zequel (2001) as Commander Edward Plank
 * Misadventures in 3D (2003) as The Professor/M.A.X.
 * Miss Cast Away (2004) as Noah
 * Zenon: Z3 (2004) as Commander Edward Plank
 * An Accidental Christmas (2007) as Saul
 * Public Interest (2008) as Charles Waterford

TV series

 * The San Pedro Beach Bums (1977-1978) as Stuf
 * BJ and The Bear (1979, 1980) (2 episodes)
 * Barney Miller (1978, 1980) (2 episodes)
 * House Calls (1981) (1 episode)
 * CHiPs (1981) (2 episodes)
 * No Soap, Radio (1982) as Tuttle
 * Trapper John, M.D. (1982, 1983, 1985) (3 episodes)
 * Fame (1985) (1 episode)
 * Three's a Crowd (1985) (1 episode)
 * Not Necessarily the News (1983-1985) as Bob Charles
 * The Golden Girls (1986) (1 episode)
 * Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984, 1987) (2 episodes)
 * Family Ties (1987) (1 episode)
 * Hooperman (1988, 1989) (2 episodes)
 * Nearly Departed (1989)
 * Who's the Boss? (1989) (1 episode)
 * Falcon Crest (1989)
 * It's Garry Shandling's Show (1989, 1990) (2 episodes)
 * Night Court (1985, 1987, 1991) (3 episodes)
 * Knots Landing (1991) (6 episodes) as Benny Appleman
 * Dinosaurs (1991-1992) as Earl Sinclair (voice)
 * Animaniacs (1993) (voice)
 * The Commish (1993) (1 episode)
 * Family Matters (1993) (1 episode)
 * Batman: The Animated Series (1994) (1 episode) (voice)
 * Sisters (1995) (1 episode)
 * Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (1996-1997) as Kurt Fust
 * Deadly Games (1996) (1 episode)
 * Duckman (1996) (1 episode) (voice)
 * Ally McBeal (1998) (1 episode)
 * For Your Love (1998-2000) as Mark
 * Suddenly Susan (1999) (1 episode)
 * Batman Beyond (1999) (1 episode) (voice)
 * Mad About You (1999) (1 episode)
 * Action (1999) (1 episode)
 * Walker, Texas Ranger (1999) (1 episode)
 * Malcolm in the Middle (2001) (1 episode)
 * Dharma & Greg (1998, 2001) (3 episodes)
 * The Zeta Project (2001) (2 episodes)
 * The Hughleys (2001) (1 episode)
 * As Told by Ginger (2002) (1 episode)
 * That's So Raven (2003) (1 episode)
 * Curb Your Enthusiasm (2005) (2 episodes) as Ben Heineman
 * Boston Legal (2006) (1 episode)
 * On the Lot (2007)
 * State of Mind (2007) (1 episode)
 * The Suite Life on Deck (2008) (1 episode)

Awards and nominations

 * Cable Ace Award 1 Win (1987), 4 Nominations (1989, 1985, 1984, 1983)
 * Electronic Retail Association (ERA) Best Celebrity Presenter (2006)