Jack Riley (actor)

Jack Riley
Jack Riley in 2005
Born	John Albert Riley Jr. (1935-12-30)December 30, 1935 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	August 19, 2016(2016-08-19) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor writer
Years active	1953–2013
Spouse	Ginger Lawrence Riley ​ ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	2

John Albert Riley Jr. (December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016) was an American actor 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.

Early life

Riley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. Riley (née Corrigan) and John Albert Riley.^{[citation needed]} After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, he served in the U.S. Army.^[1]

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.^[2]

Career

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,^[3] Riley was perhaps most famous for playing Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour, and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show 1972–1978.^[3] In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Fun-House,^[3] 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.^[4] Riley then, in 1980, appeared in a comedy special for HBO called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter.^[5] 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.^[6] In 1985, he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St. Elsewhere,^[7] 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.^[8] 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).^[8][3]

Riley often provided voiceovers for television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine.^[9] He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for CompUSA that aired in the 1990s.^[9][10] 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.^[7]

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.^[11] He made a cameo appearance on the November 23, 2013, episode of Saturday Night Live, as a subway passenger during the sketch "Matchbox 3".^[12] That episode would be his final acting role.

Personal life

Riley married Ginger Lawrence on January 3, 1970 and they had two children.^[13][7]

Death

Riley died on August 19, 2016, at age 80 in Los Angeles, due to pneumonia.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	Days of Wine and Roses	Waiter	Uncredited
1970	Catch-22	Doctor
1971	McCabe & Mrs. Miller	Riley Quinn
	In Broad Daylight	Cab Driver #3	TV movie (uncredited)
	The Todd Killings	Record Company Executive
1973	The Thief Who Came to Dinner	Lab Technician	Uncredited
	The Long Goodbye	Riley
1974	Bank Shot	Jackson
	California Split	Second Bartender
1976	Silent Movie	Executive
1977	Bumpers	Murphy	TV movie
	The World's Greatest Lover	Projectionist
	High Anxiety	The Desk Clerk
1978	Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!	Salesman
	Christmas Eve on Sesame Street	Citizen	TV movie (uncredited)
1979	Mother and Me, M.D.	Evan Murray	TV movie
	Butch and Sundance: The Early Days	Messenger
	The Halloween That Almost Wasn't	The Werewolf	TV movie
1980	Marriage Is Alive and Well	Owen	TV movie
	The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter	Store clerk	TV movie
1981	History of the World: Part I	Stoned Soldier #2
1982	The Rules of Marriage	Herb Gallup	TV movie
	All Night Radio	Mr. Worthington	TV movie
	Frances	Bob Barnes
1983	When Your Lover Leaves	Ralph	TV movie
	To Be or Not to Be	Dobish
1984	Finders Keepers	Ormond
	Night Patrol	Doctor Ziegler
1985	Lots of Luck	Marvin	TV movie
	Brothers-in-Law	Freeman	TV movie
	The History of White People in America	Scientist	TV movie
1986	The Christmas Toy	Dad	TV movie (uncredited)
	The History of White People in America: Volume II	Scientist	TV movie
1987	Spaceballs	TV Newsman
1988	Rented Lips	Herb the Auditor
	Portrait of a White Marriage	Roy Bloomer
1989	Gleaming the Cube	Homeowner
	C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.	Wade Williams
1990	Payback	Coroner
1992	The Player	Jack Riley
1993	A Dangerous Woman	Bandleader
	Sesame Street Stays Up Late!	Jack	TV movie (uncredited)
1995	Theodore Rex	Alaric
1997	Boogie Nights	Lawyer
	Venus Envy	Mr. Wood
1998	Chairman of the Board	Condom Boss
	The Rugrats Movie	Stu Pickles
2000	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie	Stu Pickles
	Rugrats: Acorn Nuts & Diapey Butts	Stu Pickles	TV movie
2001	Recess: School's Out	Golfer #1
	The Rugrats: All Growed Up	Stu Pickles	TV movie
2003	Rugrats Go Wild!	Stu Pickles
2005	McBride: The Doctor Is Out... Really Out	Alex	TV movie
2006	Room 6	James Brewster
2007	Avenging Angel	Elder	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966– 1967	Occasional Wife	Wally Frick	7 episodes
1967	Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C.	Larry	2 episodes
	The Flying Nun	Leo	Episode: "Ah Love, Could You and I Conspire?"
1968	I Dream of Jeannie	Frank	Episode: "Abdullah"
1968– 1969	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Himself	5 episodes
1969– 1970	Hogan's Heroes	Additional Characters	3 episodes
1970	Bracken's World	Mr. Jeffrey	Episode: "Whatever Happened to Happy Endings?"
	Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour	Himself	Uncredited
	Love, American Style	Danny
	The Partridge Family	Corporal Wrzesinski	Episode: "See Here, Private Partridge"
1970– 1971	The Red Skeleton Hour	Additional Characters	4 episodes
1971	The Good Life	Cosgrove	Episode: "One of Our Rolls Is Missing"
1971– 1972	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Barry Barlow / Eldon Colfax	2 episodes
1972	Getting Together	Mel	Episode: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
	M*A*S*H	Capt. Kaplan	Episode: "Chief Surgeon Who?"
1972– 1978	The Bob Newhart Show	Elliot Carlin	Main cast
1973	Cannon	Programmer	Episode: "Catch Me If You Can"
	Columbo	Director	Episode: "Candidate for Crime"
	The Girl with Something Extra	Arthur	Episode: "A Meeting of Minds"
1974	Kung Fu	Royal	Episode: "The Gunman"
	The Snoop Sisters	Ollie Robertson	Episode: "Fear Is a Free-Throw"
	Happy Days	Officer O'Reilly	Episode: "The Deadly Dares"
	Police Woman	Joe	Episode: "Anatomy of Two Rapes"
	The ABC Afternoon Playbreak	Braddock	Episode: "Can I Save My Children?"
1975	Barnaby Jones	Norm Ricks	Episode: "Poisoned Pigeon"
	Harry O	Barney Hamilton / Eddie Stern	2 episodes
1976	Good Heavens		Episode: "Mr. Right"
	Alice	Richard Atkins	Episode: "A Call to Arms"
1976– 1979	Barney Miller	Robert Lovell / Frederick Clooney	2 episodes
1977	The Rockford Files	Adrian Lyman	Episode: "There's One in Every Port"
1978– 1985	Diff'rent Strokes	Pete / Mr. Crocker / Charles Sutton / Miles Monroe	4 episodes
1979	Joe & Valerie	Ed	Episode: "The Wedding Guest"
1980	The Tim Conway Show		Episode: "The Night That Dracula Saved The World"
	Too Close for Comfort	The Hold-Up Man	Episode: "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolfe?"
	Hart to Hart	Norman Culp	Episode: "'Tis the Season to Be Murdered"
1981	Eight Is Enough	Joe Roth	Episode: "Bradfordgate"
	Ladies' Man	Dunlap	Episode: "Women Need Not Apply"
	Fantasy Island	Henley	Episode: "Night in the Harem/Druids"
1982	Simon & Simon	Dr. Robert P. Medlow	Episode: "Ashes to Ashes, and None Too Soon"
	Love, Sidney	Tom	Episode: "Patti, the Torch"
	Family Ties	Earl Quigley	Episode: "Have Gun, Will Unravel"
1983	Romance Theatre	Alex	5 episodes
	9 to 5	Seymour	Episode: "The Oldest Profession"
	Condo	Hughes	Episode: "Members Only"
1983– 1984	One Day at a Time	Mr. Gonagin	2 episodes
1984	Domestic Life	Deep Throat	Episode: "The Candidates"
	Faerie Tale Theatre	Sexton / Deacon	Episode: "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers"
	The Love Boat	Miles Metcalf	3 episodes
	Down to Earth	Phil	Episode: "Gone with the Wind"
1984– 1991	Night Court	Beepo the Clown / Dr. Flick / Jim Wimberly / Warren Wilson / Emil Dutton	7 episodes
1985	Riptide	Tiny Tommy	Episode: "Curse of the Mary Aberdeen"
	ABC Afterschool Specials	Mr. White	Episode: "First the Egg"
	Silver Spoons	Mr. Snodgrass	Episode: "All the Principal's Men"
	Washingtoon		Episode: "Episode #1.1"
	St. Elsewhere	Elliot Carlin	Episode: "Close Encounters"
1986	Gimme a Break!	Jack	2 episodes
	Blacke's Magic		Episode: "It's a Jungle Out There"
1987	What a Country!	Agent Warren Yates	Episode: "The Road from Morocco"
	ALF	Elliot Carlin	Episode: "Going Out of My Head Over You" (uncredited)
	Throb	Flashback Johnny / Herb	2 episodes
	Roxie	Leon Buchanan	Main cast
1988	Punky Brewster	Snipes	Episode: "Brandon's Commercial"
	Charles in Charge	Professor Kleeman	Episode: "Trading Papers"
	Mathnet	Mr. Dwight Ledbetter	Episode: "The Case of the Deceptive Data"
	Square One Television	Mr. Dwight Ledbetter	Episode: "Episode #2.14"
	Newhart	Patient	Episode: "I Married Dick"
1989	Duet	Fredrick	Episode: "Roll Call"
	Hard Time on Planet Earth		Episode: "Death Do Us Part"
	A Fine Romance	Ray Ragalito	Episode: "Th-Th-Th-That's All Folks"
1990	My Two Dads	Dave	Episode: "It's My Art, and I'll Die If I Want To"
	Garfield and Friends	Tyrone	3 episodes
1991	Babes	Jack	Episode: "Not Married with Children"
	Harry and the Hendersons	Leonard	Episode: "Working Stiffs"
1991– 2005	Rugrats	Stu Pickles / Various Characters	Main Cast; 145 episodes
1992	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Various Characters
	Civil Wars	Jack Cort	Episode: "Das Boat House"
	Evening Shade	Jesse	Episode: "I'll Be Home for Christmas"
1993	Family Matters	Wayne	Episode: "The Way the Ball Bounces"
	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Mr. Graves	Episode: "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
1994	Married... with Children	Wendell	Episode: "Business Sucks"
	Dave's World	Guy	Episode: "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
1995	The Boys Are Back	Bob	Episode: "Searching for Sarah Hansen"
	Friends	Airline Passenger	Episode: "The One Where Rachel Finds Out"
	Hudson Street	Howie	Episode: "The Hit Parade"
	New York Daze		Episode: "The Jacket"
1996	Coach	Oliver	Episode: "Just Short of the Goal"
	The Drew Carey Show	Mr. Jones	Episode: "What the Zoning Inspector Saw"
1997	Seinfeld	Rider	Episode: "The Muffin Tops"
	The Secret World of Alex Mack	Mr. O'Reilly	Episode: "Driving"
	Touched by an Angel	Leo	Episode: "Sandcastles"
	George and Leo		Episode: "The Cameo Episode"
	Baywatch		Episode: "Eel Nino"
1998	Mike Hammer, Private Eye	Puff Puff the Bunny	2 episodes
	Working	Chaplain	Episode: "Armageddon Outta Here"
1999	Oh, Grow Up	Harry Tatham	Episode: "Himbo"
2000– 2002	Son of the Beach	Chappy	10 episodes
2003	Lucky	Piney	Episode: "Lie, Cheat & Deal"
	Burl's	Gym Instructor	Short
2003– 2008	All Grown Up!	Stu Pickles / Executive	19 episodes
2004	That '70s Show	Old Man Shinsky	Episode: "Rip This Joint"
2005	Yes, Dear	Mr. Shipley	Episode: "High School Reunion"
2007	Papa's Bag	Papa	Short
2009	Easy to Assemble	Jack	Episode: "Bitter is Better"
	Nora Falls	Avery	Short
2011– 2012	The Garfield Show	Anthony Allwork / Ghost Cat	5 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Rugrats Adventure Game	Stu Pickles
	Rugrats: Search for Reptar
	The Rugrats Movie		The game tie-in for the movie of the same name.
1999	Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt
	Rugrats: Studio Tour
	Rugrats: Time Travelers
2001	Rugrats: Castle Capers
2002	Rugrats: Royal Ransom		Uncredited
2003	Rugrats Go Wild!		The game tie-in for the movie of the same name.

Crew work

• The Don Rickles Show (1968, 1 episode) – Writer
• The Many Sides of Don Rickles (1970) – Writer
• The Addams Family Fun House (1973) – Writer

References

1. "Cleveland native and comedian Jack Riley has died". WEWS News. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
2. Venable, Nick (August 19, 2016). "Rugrats And Bob Newhart Show Star Jack Riley Is Dead At 80". Cinema Blend. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
3. Agard, Chancellor (August 19, 2016). "Jack Riley, Bob Newhart Show actor, dies at 80". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
4. Adams, Erik (October 30, 2012). "When the TV stars of 1979 saved Halloween with a little kitsch". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
5. "HBO Guide February 1980". HBO. p. 9. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
6. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earl (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present (8th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 1203. ISBN 978-0345455420.
7. Bell, Crystal. "Jack Riley, The Voice of Stu Pickles on Rugrats, Is Dead at 80". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
8. Pedersen, Erik (August 19, 2016). "Jack Riley Dies: 'Bob Newhart Show' & Mel Brooks Movie Actor Was 80". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
9. Adams, Erik (August 19, 2016). "R.I.P. Jack Riley, Bob Newhart patient and Rugrats dad". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
10. Dean, Paul (October 24, 1993). "The Voice Next Door: A knack for projecting personality over radio waves can be worth a bundle to advertisers. Those who do it best seem like old friends". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
11. Barnes, Mike. "Jack Riley, Who Played the Neurotic Eliot Carlin on 'The Bob Newhart Show,' Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
12. Skladany, Joey. "Where Are They Now – Voices of 'Rugrats'". Zimbio. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
13. Agard, Chancellor (August 19, 2016). "Jack Riley, Voice of Stu Pickles on Rugrats, Dies at 80". People. Retrieved February 7, 2022.

External links

• Jack Riley at IMDb