Pollard was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and brought up in the nearby North Jersey communities of Garfield and Clifton.[1] He was the son of Sonia V. (née Dubanowich) and Michael John Pollack, a bar manager.[2][3] His parents were both of Polish descent. His mother was born in New York, and his father was born in New Jersey.[4] Pollard's father supported his wife and Michael Jr. by working 60 hours a week as a barman at O'Rourke's Tap Room.[4] Pollard attended Montclair Academy (now Montclair Kimberley Academy) and Actors Studio in New York.[5][6][7]
Career
Early career
Pollard had his earliest screen roles in television, with multiple appearances in programs broadcast during 1959. He had two roles in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Appointment at Eleven", a minor part as a shoeshine boy and as herpetologist Hansel Eidelpfeiffer in "Anniversary Gift". Pollard also portrayed Homer McCauley, the dramatic lead, in a television adaptation of William Saroyan's novel The Human Comedy, narrated by Burgess Meredith, and broadcast as an episode of the DuPont Show of the Month. That same year Pollard appeared in David Hedison's 16-segment NBCespionage TV series Five Fingers in the episode "The Unknown Town".
Later that same year, Pollard appeared in episode five of CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis as Jerome Krebs, the first cousin of Maynard G. Krebs, played by Bob Denver, who in real life had been drafted into the United States Army. Pollard's character was to have been a replacement for Maynard, but disappeared when Denver was classified 4-F and was able to return to the series.[8]
Pollard played the role of Cyrus in a 1964 episode of the CBS western series Gunsmoke, titled "Journey for Three". That year he also appeared as Ted Mooney, son of Mr. Mooney, on The Lucy Show.[10] In 1965, he played the role of "Jingles" in the episode "The Princess and the Paupers" on the ABCcrime drama, Honey West, starring Anne Francis.[10]
Pollard was known for his short stature (five feet and six inches), which facilitated his getting youthful roles into his thirties. One such role was in the original Star Trek series as the teenage leader of an all-child planet in the episode "Miri" (1966):[10]
Michael J. Pollard is smarmily effective as, in essence, a cult leader for the kids, and the kids themselves manage a perfect blend of creepy, scary, and silly. The cry of “bonk-bonk on the head” is amusing right up until twenty kids pile onto Kirk and he emerges with blood seeping down the sides of his head.[13]
He also appeared in a first-season episode of Irwin Allen's Lost In Space as a nameless Peter Pan-like boy who lives in the dimension behind all mirrors ("The Magic Mirror").[14][15]
Also in 1967, Pollard played the lead role in Derek May's short drama, Niagara Falls.[21] Later that year, he was once again singled out for praise in Carl Reiner's autobiographical comedy Enter Laughing; noted film critic Roger Ebert wrote:
Michael J. Pollard, an unknown before his fascinating entry in Bonnie and Clyde, brings his squint and grin to the part of Marvin, our hero's buddy, and steals every scene. There is something about Pollard that is absolutely original and seems to strike audiences as irresistibly funny and deserving of affection. If he works at it and gets a break or two, there will be no stopping him. Really. All he needs is visibility, and people will become addicted.[22]
This is no typical, Tinseltown western though. It's more like The Making of a Sociopath, with Michael J. Pollard starring as displaced, 17-year-old Billy Bonney, in the days leading up to his evolution into the notorious Billy the Kid ... this is the perfect role for Pollard. And though a little old to play a teenager (he was 33), he hands us a Billy who's perpetually victimized by bad luck, until he finally blows a gasket at the very end and sparks his future.[26]
In 1987, Pollard played the role of an inquisitive volunteer firefighter, Andy, in the film Roxanne, starring Steve Martin. The following year Pollard played the role of Herman, a homeless man whose death strongly affects Bill Murray's character in the Christmas movie Scrooged. Also in 1988, Pollard played a villain in the horror film American Gothic.
Pollard played Bug Bailey in the popular 1990 film Dick Tracy.[30]
In 1992, he starred in a sixth-season episode of Ray Bradbury Theater, The Handler, in which he portrayed a mortician who tried to give his clients a little extra treatment that he thought they should have.[31] In 1993, he appeared in the horror film Skeeter.[32] In 1997, he played the role of Aeolus in The Odyssey starring Armand Assante.[10]
Pollard continued to work in film and television into the 21st century, including his appearance as "Stucky" in the 2003 Rob Zombie-directed cult classic House of 1000 Corpses.[33]
Personal life
Pollard was married to actress Beth Howland, with whom he had one daughter, Holly Howland.[34] He had a son, Axel Emmett Pollard, from a second marriage to Annie Tolstoy.[35][36][37][38]
In 1968, DJ-turned-singer Jim Lowe (who hit the top of the charts in 1956 with "The Green Door") recorded "Michael J. Pollard for President" on the Buddah Records label.[19][20]
^ ab"The Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940" Passaic City, Passaic County, New Jersey; digital copy of original enumeration page, April 3, 1940. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. FamilySearch, a genealogical on-line database provided as a public service by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
^ ab"Michael J. Pollard", actor's profile in Playbill for his role as Hugo Peabody in the original Broadway production Bye Bye Birdie, April 14, 1960. Playbill archive. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
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