Michael Pataki

Michael Pataki (January 16, 1938 – April 15, 2010) was an American character actor.

Early life
Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He attended the University of Southern California with a double major in Political Science and Drama. His career was launched at a summer stock festival in Edinburgh in 1966, with a review that read, "Michael Pataki went beyond the bounds of mere nationality in his tense and moving interpretation of "Jerry" in Zoo Story. Pataki was so well loved that at a reception for the theatre group acclaimed British actor Laurence Harvey, whom Pataki had never met, said he was magnificent and gave him a kiss on the mouth.

Television career
Pataki had appeared in numerous television productions, from the black and white days of Playhouse 90, The Twilight Zone, and My Favorite Martian, to early color shows like The Flying Nun, Bonanza and The Green Hornet. Pataki was also a regular on The Amazing Spider-Man, and had a re-occurring role on McCloud as well. One of his most famous roles was as "Korax", the loudmouthed Klingon who started the bar fight in "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode of Star Trek.

He also played Governor Karnas on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Too Short a Season" and George Liquor in the episodes of The Ren and Stimpy Show entitled "Dog Show" and "Man's Best Friend." He was also the voice of "The Cow" in "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures" (along with many other secondary characters). Michael Pataki played a guest spot on Happy Days Season 4 as Count Malachi, one half of the Malachi Brothers. He was made famous on Happy Days for his line " Let the Pigeons Loose".

Film career
Pataki's film credits include Rocky IV, in which he played Nicoli Koloff, the sports administrator for the Russian team. He played one of the mimes in Easy Rider. His first role was in 10 North Fredrick. He was also the district attorney in The Onion Field, and was the operator of "The Hands" in The Andromeda Strain. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, American Anthem, Airport '77, and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers are a few other notable titles.

Pataki has also had his fair share of B-movie roles. In Dracula's Dog, he played opposite Reggie Nalder and José Ferrer as a descendant of Dracula who is stalked by a vampiric Doberman Pinscher. Other horror titles include Grave of the Vampire, The Return of Count Yorga, Dead and Buried, Terror at Alcatraz, Graduation Day, and The Bat People. He also directed Richard Basehart in Mansion of the Doomed. Pataki has appeared in three films that have been lampooned on the cult show Mystery Science Theater 3000: Superdome (ep. K15), Sidehackers (ep. 202), and It Lives By Night (ep. 1010)

Other work
Pataki directed the 1977 film version of Cinderella. He also co-produced the filming of the stage presentation of Pippin with David Sheehan, starring William Katt. Pataki was also an accomplished voice over artist, playing the part of the Sewer King in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. He was the voice of George Liquor for Ren and Stimpy production house Spümcø, voicing the character in The Goddamn George Liquor Program. Pataki died from cancer on April 15, 2010. He was 72.