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IMDbPro

Michael J. Pollard(1939-2019)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Michael J. Pollard
With his boss in the madhouse, a mobster is temporary boss of the criminal empire just as vicious rivals threaten the control of the empire.
Play trailer2:24
Mad Dog Time (1996)
6 Videos
17 Photos
Cherubic, wispy-haired looks made his typecasting as impish or eccentric characters somehow inevitable. The pint-sized Michael J. Pollard was born the son of a bar manager of Polish ancestry in Passaic (New Jersey). He studied drama at the Actor's Studio (with a young Marilyn Monroe in the same class) and made his theatrical debut in November 1958 on Broadway in "Comes the Day," with George C. Scott and Judith Anderson. He received excellent critical notices the following year for his performance in William Inge's play "A Loss of Roses" and thereby came to the attention of Hollywood. On the small screen, Pollard enjoyed a measure of early success in anthology television. He then had a brief stint as Bob Denver's cousin Jerome Krebs in a couple of episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959). His chief contribution to cult sci-fi consisted of appearances in Lost in Space (1965) and Star Trek: The Original Series (1966), his baby-faced appearance enabling him to essay characters who were considerably younger than his actual age. True to form, he also portrayed the bowler-hat wearing, leprechaun-like trickster Mister Mxyzptlk in Superboy (1988), based on the DC comic strips. Pollard had his fair share of exposure to mainstream TV dramas as well, popping up in series like Gunsmoke (1955), The Virginian (1962), and I Spy (1965). For the most part, his screen personae were simple country folk, sometimes evil, often mischievous, nervous or downright weird.

Pollard's big break (and his critically most acclaimed role) was as the loyal, but inarticulate and child-like garage mechanic turned get-away driver C.W. Moss in Arthur Penn's gangster epic Bonnie and Clyde (1967). On the heels of his Oscar-nomination for Best Supporting Actor came offers for other high-profile off-beat character roles, though he was never truly regarded as star material. He gave a good account of himself as Packy, leader of a group of partisans joining Hannibal Brooks (1969) and his POWs in their escape from the Nazis across the Alps to Switzerland. Perhaps best of all post-Bonnie and Clyde impersonations was his powerful portrayal of the outlaw Henry McCarty (aka William H. Bonney) as a demented, twitching psychopath in Dirty Little Billy (1972) (a rare starring role which also marked the screen debut of actor Nick Nolte). By the 1980s, Pollard had recovered from a period of alcohol and drug abuse, but by then his name had slipped down the list of credits and he was now reduced to minor support in films like Roxanne (1987), American Gothic (1987), Dick Tracy (1990), and Rob Zombie's debut cult-horror House of 1000 Corpses (2003).

Pollard died of cardiac arrest on November 20, 2019 in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
BornMay 30, 1939
DiedNovember 20, 2019(80)
BornMay 30, 1939
DiedNovember 20, 2019(80)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 6 nominations total

Photos17

Warren Beatty and Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Michael J. Pollard and Logan Ramsey in Scrooged (1988)
Michael J. Pollard in Jigsaw (1968)
John Newton and Michael J. Pollard in Superboy (1988)
Michael J. Pollard in Split Second (1992)
Michael J. Pollard
Hayley Mills, James Mathers, Dorothy McGuire, and Michael J. Pollard in Summer Magic (1963)
Gene Hackman, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, and Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Gene Hackman, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, and Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, and Michael J. Pollard in The Legend of Frenchie King (1971)

Known for

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Bonnie and Clyde
7.7
  • C.W. Moss
  • 1967
Tango & Cash (1989)
Tango & Cash
6.4
  • Owen
  • 1989
Roxanne (1987)
Roxanne
6.6
  • Andy
  • 1987
Bill Murray in Scrooged (1988)
Scrooged
6.9
  • Herman
  • 1988

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Next Cassavetes
    • Guide
    • Post-production
  • Brett David Stelter in Bobby Bishop (2020)
    Bobby Bishop
    • Old Man Moss
    • Short
    • 2020
  • The Woods (2012)
    The Woods
    • Moose
    • 2012
  • Sunburnt Angels (2011)
    Sunburnt Angels
    • Cards
    • 2011
  • Remembering Nigel (2009)
    Remembering Nigel
    • Michael J. Pollard
    • 2009
  • House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
    House of 1000 Corpses
    • Stucky
    • 2003
  • Robert Patrick and Jennifer Esposito in Backflash (2001)
    Backflash
    • Don
    • Video
    • 2001
  • Out of the Black (2001)
    Out of the Black
    • Ned
    • 2001
  • Danny and Max
    • Berquist
    • 2000
  • Forever Lulu (2000)
    Forever Lulu
    • Hippie
    • 2000
  • Amanda Peet, Ivan Sergei, Justin Kirk, Sarah Paulson, Jaime Pressly, and Simon Rex in Jack & Jill (1999)
    Jack & Jill
    • Ice Cream Man
    • TV Series
    • 2000
  • Terry Farrell, Ted Danson, Alex Désert, Shawnee Smith, and Hattie Winston in Becker (1998)
    Becker
    • Elliott
    • TV Series
    • 1999
  • The Debtors (1999)
    The Debtors
    • 1999
  • Tumbleweeds (1999)
    Tumbleweeds
    • Mr. Cummings
    • 1999
  • Matt Craven, Sheryl Lee, and Rick Roberts in L.A. Doctors (1998)
    L.A. Doctors
    • 8294-7
    • TV Series
    • 1998
  • Lea Thompson, Danny Nucci, Vincent Spano, and Stephen Spinella in The Unknown Cyclist (1998)
    The Unknown Cyclist
    • Gabe Sinclair
    • 1998

Soundtrack

  • Liza
    • performer: "Singin' in the Rain", "New York, New York", "I Won't Dance", "That's Entertainment!"
    • TV Special
    • 1970
  • Channing (1963)
    Channing
    • performer: "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1964

Videos6

Trailer
Trailer 2:22
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:24
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:15
Trailer
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
Trailer 2:01
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
Split Second
Trailer 1:31
Split Second
Bonnie and Clyde
Trailer 2:58
Bonnie and Clyde

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Theater_org
  • Alternative name
    • Michael Pollard
  • Height
    • 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
  • Born
    • May 30, 1939
    • Passaic, New Jersey, USA
  • Died
    • November 20, 2019
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(cardiac arrest)
  • Spouse
    • Beth HowlandNovember 6, 1961 - 1969 (divorced, 1 child)
  • Children
      Axel Pollack
  • Parents
      Sonia Dubanowich Pollack
  • Other works
    (1958- ). Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Played the role of "Hugo" in the original Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie" (costarring with Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde, and Dick Gautier) in the early 1960s.
  • Quotes
    Hippies. They make them out to be bad. I'm not bad. I love everybody. Well, I like everybody.
  • Salary
    • Bonnie and Clyde
      (1967)
      $14,000

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