Peter Riegert

Peter Riegert
Riegert at the premiere of The Rose in 1979
Born	(1947-04-11) April 11, 1947 (age 77) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	The State University of New York (The University at Buffalo)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present

Peter Riegert (/riːɡɜːrt/ REE-gert;) (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in Animal House (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in Local Hero (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner in Crossing Delancey (1988) and Lt. Mitch Kellaway in The Mask (1994). He directed the short film By Courier (2000), for which he was nominated along with producer Ericka Frederick for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

On television, Riegert had a recurring role as crooked Newark Assemblyman and later State Senator Ronald Zellman in seasons three and four of the HBO series The Sopranos (2001–2002), appeared as George Moore in the first season of the FX series Damages (2007), and portrayed Seth Green's father in the comedy series Dads (2013–2014). He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the HBO film Barbarians at the Gate in 1993.

Early life and education

Riegert was born on April 11, 1947, in the Bronx, New York, the son of Lucille, a piano teacher, and Milton Riegert, a food wholesaler.^[1] Riegert grew up in Hartsdale, New York, and was raised in a non-observant Jewish household.^[2]

He graduated from Ardsley High School in 1964 and later from the University at Buffalo. He worked at a number of jobs, including teaching, waiting tables, and as a social worker before settling on acting as a career.

Career

Stage

Riegert made his Broadway debut in the musical Dance with Me. Other Broadway credits include The Old Neighborhood, An American Daughter, The Nerd, and Censored Scenes From King Kong. Off-Broadway he has appeared in Road to Nirvana, The Birthday Party, Isn't It Romantic, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and A Rosen by Any Other Name.

Film

Riegert's film debut came in 1978's National Lampoon's Animal House. He has subsequently appeared in films such as Crossing Delancey, Local Hero, The Mask, Traffic, and We Bought a Zoo.

Television

Riegert made his television debut in two episodes of M*A*S*H. He has also portrayed Newark Assemblyman and later New Jersey State Senator Ronald Zellman in The Sopranos and defense attorney Chauncey Zeirko in multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He starred opposite former girlfriend Bette Midler in the television adaptation of Gypsy and was featured in the HBO drama Barbarians at the Gate (which earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special). He also starred as composer Jake Rubin (based on real-life composer Irving Berlin) in the 1984 miniseries Ellis Island, the final episode of Seinfeld as the president of NBC, and the television movie Back When We Were Grownups. Riegert voiced the character of Max Weinstein in the controversial episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" of Family Guy. Riegert guest-starred in a Season 2 episode of Leverage as corrupt lawyer Peter Blanchard. In 2011, Riegert began a multi-episode arc on One Tree Hill as August Kellerman, Nathan's unforgiving college professor. Riegert appeared as the character George Moore in Season 1 of Damages. He also appeared in a recurring role as Judge Harvey Winter in CBS' The Good Wife. He appeared in Dads as David Sachs, the father of Eli Sachs, played by Seth Green. Riegert also appeared in Seasons 3 and 4 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He made a multi-episode guest appearance in the second half of the Netflix original comedy series Disjointed. Riegert has a recurring role as left-wing lawyer Roger Pugh on Season 3 of the HBO series Succession.^[3]

Director and writer

Riegert made his screenwriting and directorial debuts with By Courier, based on a short story by O. Henry. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film and won him the Festival Award for Best First Feature at the Marco Island Film Festival.

Riegert also directed and co-wrote King of the Corner, a 2004 film featured at the Newport Film Festival, in which he also starred alongside Isabella Rossellini. It also featured Eric Bogosian, Dominic Chianese, Beverly D'Angelo and Rita Moreno.

Voice work

Riegert narrated the audiobook of Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which was nominated for a 2008 Audie Award in literary fiction. He also narrated the audiobook of The Voyage of the Narwhal,^[4] and has read the stories of Raymond Carver.

He was also the narrator for The First Basket, a documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	National Lampoon's Animal House	Donald "Boon" Schoenstein
1979	Americathon	McMerkin
1979	Chilly Scenes of Winter	Sam
1981	National Lampoon's Movie Madness	Jason Cooper
1983	Local Hero	MacIntyre
1987	A Man in Love	Michael Pozner
1987	The Stranger	Dr. Harris Kite
1988	Crossing Delancey	Sam Posner
1989	That's Adequate	Adult Baby Elroy
1990	A Shock to the System	Robert "Bob" Benham
1991	The Object of Beauty	Lawrence "Larry" Oates
1991	Oscar	Aldo
1991	The Runestone	Capt. Gregory Fanducci
1992	Utz	Marius Fisher
1992	Passed Away	Peter Syracusa
1994	The Mask	Lt. Mitch Kellaway
1995	Coldblooded	Steve
1996	Pie in the Sky	Dad Dunlap
1996	Infinity	Mel Feynman
1998	Jerry and Tom	Stanley
1998	Hi-Life	Minor
2000	Passion of Mind	Dr. Peters
2000	How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog	Larry
2000	Traffic	Attorney Michael Adler
2003	Where Are They Now?: A Delta Alumni Update	Donald "Boone" Schoenstein	Video short
2004	King of the Corner	Leo Spivak	Also writer and director
2009	Love Conquers Paul	Mr. Feigenbaum
2010	The Chosen One	Bob
2010	White Irish Drinkers	Whitey
2011	Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness	Himself
2011	We Bought a Zoo	Delbert McGinty
2013	At Middleton	Boneyard Sims
2014	The Walk	Alfred Foxman	Short
2016	American Pastoral	Lou Levov

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	M*A*S*H	Cpl. Igor Straminsky	2 episodes
1984	American Playhouse	Richard M. Nixon	Episodes: "Concealed Enemies", Parts I-IV
1984	Ellis Island	Jacob Rubinstein	3 episodes
1985	The Twilight Zone	Gus Rosenthal	Episode: "The Beacon/One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty"
1986	News at Eleven	Eric Ross	Television film
1989	American Masters	W. Eugene Smith	Episode: "W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult"
1989	Trying Times	Bill	Episode: "The Hit List"
1992	Middle Ages	Walter Cooper	5 episodes
1993	Barbarians at the Gate	Peter Cohen	Television film
1993	Gypsy	Herbie	Television film
1995	The Infiltrator	Rabbi Cooper	Television film
1995	Mystery Dance	Alan Baker	Episode #1.1
1995	An Element of Truth	Sidney Wiltz	Television film
1996	Law & Order	Jerold Dixon	Episode: "Deceit"
1997	North Shore Fish	Porker	Television film
1997	Face Down	Lieutenant Cooper (Coop)	Television film
1998	Seinfeld	James Kimbrough	Episode: "The Finale"
1998	The Baby Dance	Richard Luckman	Television film
1998	Scandalous Me: Jacqueline Susann Story	Irving Mansfield	Television film
2000	Sports Night	Jay Rydell	Episode: "The Cut Man Cometh"
2001	Bojangles	Marty Forkins	Television film
2001	The Beast	Ted Fisher	6 episodes
2001	Bleacher Bums	Decker	Television film
2001–2002	The Sopranos	Assemblyman Ronald Zellman	6 episodes
2003	Family Guy	Max Weinstein (voice)	Episode: "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
2004	Back When We Were Grownups	Zeb Davitch	Television film
2004–2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Chauncey Zeirko	7 episodes
2007	Damages	George Moore / The Executive	9 episodes
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Len Dinerstein	Episode: "Dog Eat Dog"
2009	Leverage	Peter Blanchard	Episode: "The Lost Heir Job"
2009–2012	The Good Wife	Judge Harvey Winter	5 episodes
2010–2011	One Tree Hill	Dr. August Kellerman	6 episodes
2013–2014	Dads	David Sachs	19 episodes
2015	Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll	Ted	Episode: "Supercalifragilisticjuliefriggingandrews"
2015	Show Me a Hero	Oscar Newman	6 episodes
2017–2019	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Artie Goodman	9 episodes
2018	Disjointed	Walter	5 episodes
2021	Succession	Roger Pugh
2022	Bull	Dr. Cohen
2023	Extrapolations	Ben Zucker

References

1. "Peter Riegert Biography (1947-)". Film Reference. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
2. Fox, Michael (June 3, 2005). "Peter Reigert gives voice to 'bad Jews' in directorial debut". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved 17 November 2019. I was aware of being Jewish and I don't mean that in a small way.
3. Drysdale, Neil (November 1, 2021). "Peter Riegert in Succession: Will Local Hero lock horns with Logan Roy?". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
4. "The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett on Audio Download". LearnOutLoud. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
5. "The Production Team". The First Basket. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

External links

• Peter Riegert at IMDb
• Peter Riegert at the Internet Broadway Database
• IndustryCentral profile
• AllMovie.com profile
• Interview with Riegert