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Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcaster. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men, Jacob Goldman in Grumpy Old Men and its sequel Grumpier Old Men; Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects, Phillip Green in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and Bobby Chicago in End of Days.
From 2016 to 2022, he played a recurring role in Better Things. From 2017 to 2023, Pollak was a regular cast member on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon.
As a film actor, Pollak's roles frequently include the best friend, family member or confidant character to the leading man, such as in Ricochet (1991), A Few Good Men (1992), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Grumpy Old Men (1993) and its sequel Grumpier Old Men (1995), Casino (1995), End of Days (1999), and The Wedding Planner (2001). However, he has also played a wide variety of parts, such as a comical brownie in Willow (1988), the philandering brother of Sarah Jessica Parker in Miami Rhapsody (1995), a criminal in The Usual Suspects (1995), a father in She's All That (1999), a gangster in The Whole Nine Yards (2000) and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards (2004), a lawyer in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), and Cupid in The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and (2006). His most substantial role to date was in Deterrence (1999), in which he played the main character, a vice president who must take over for a deceased President and deal with a nuclear crisis.
Pollak briefly hosted Celebrity Poker Showdown in its first season. In December 2006, he played Karl Kreutzfeld in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room. Through 2008, he had a recurring role as a district attorney on the television series Shark. In March 2008, Pollak played himself in the web series The Writers Room on Crackle. In 2010, he portrayed Sheriff Tom Wagner in Choose.
In early 2010, Pollak was scheduled to host Our Little Genius on FOX, but the series was pulled before it could air on television. Pollak was then seen hosting Million Dollar Money Drop for FOX at the end of that year; the show ran for 12 episodes.
In 2014, Pollak began a recurring role as Alvin Biletnikoff on the CBS sitcom Mom. His time on the show ended with the death of his character. Starting in 2016, Pollak played the role of Marion in the FX series Better Things. His character was recurring throughout all five seasons.
In 2017, Pollak joined the cast of the Golden Globe–winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an original series from Amazon, as Moishe Maisel, the main character's father-in-law. In 2019, Pollak appeared in five episodes of the fourth season on Showtime's Billions, as Douglas Mason.
Pollak directed the comedy film The Late Bloomer, starring Johnny Simmons, which was released in 2016.
Celebrity impressions
The guest interviews are very in-depth and typically longer than an hour in duration, sometimes exceeding two hours. Common topics include the guests' childhoods, how they got into the business they are in (typically show business), how they got inspired to start certain creative endeavors, and unique experiences they have had while working. Viewers can interact via chat room during the show, and sometimes questions for the guest posed in the chat room are answered live.
The show's self-described "Paul Shaffer" is actor Samm Levine.
Recurring segments and bits on the show include:
In 2012, Pollak began a new podcast called Talkin Walkin in which he spends an hour or more with a new guest in character as Christopher Walken. After three episodes, the show was rated in the top 5 of all comedy podcasts by iTunes.
He is the only person to ever go "2 for 2" (two exact matches), as a guest on the Sklar Brothers/Daniel Van Kirk podcast Dumb People Town, in the "Guess the Age" game. The feat was completed on the episode released on April 2, 2018.
In 2018, Pollak began hosting a comedy improvisation podcast called Alchemy This, on the network iHeartRadio. It features a regular cast of 5 members, Craig Cackowski, James Heaney, Chris Alvarado, Vanessa Ragland, and Joey Greer, as well as several guests.
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Dwight D. Eisenhower (voice) | Uncredited |
| 1987 | Million Dollar Mystery | Officer Quinn | |
| 1988 | Willow | Rool | |
| 1990 | Avalon | Izzy Kirk | |
| 1991 | L.A. Story | Frank Swan | |
| Another You | Phil | ||
| Ricochet | Lieutenant Larry Doyle | ||
| 1992 | The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them | Eli | |
| A Few Good Men | LTJG Sam Weinberg, JAGC | ||
| 1993 | Indian Summer | Brad Berman | |
| Wayne's World 2 | Jerry Segel | ||
| Grumpy Old Men | Jake Goldman | ||
| 1994 | Clean Slate | Rosenheim | |
| 1995 | Todd Hockney | ||
| Miami Rhapsody | Jordan Marcus | ||
| Canadian Bacon | Stu Smiley | ||
| Casino | Phillip Green | ||
| Grumpier Old Men | Jake Goldman | ||
| Chameleon | Matt Gianni | ||
| 1996 | House Arrest | Ned Beindorf | |
| That Thing You Do! | Victor 'Boss Vic Koss' Kosslovich | ||
| 1997 | Truth or Consequences, N.M. | Gordon Jacobson | |
| 1998 | Buffalo '66 | TV Sportscaster | |
| Hoods | Rudy | ||
| Outside Ozona | Wit Roy | ||
| 1999 | Deal of a Lifetime | Jerry | |
| She's All That | Wayne Boggs | ||
| The Sex Monster | Jerry Berman | ||
| Deterrence | President Walter Emerson | ||
| End of Days | Bobby Chicago | ||
| 2000 | The Whole Nine Yards | Janni Pytor Gogolak | |
| Steal This Movie! | Gerry Lefcourt | ||
| 2001 | The Wedding Planner | John Dojny | |
| 3000 Miles to Graceland | US Marshal Damitry | ||
| Dr. Dolittle 2 | Riley / Alligator | ||
| 2002 | Stolen Summer | Rabbi Jacobsen | |
| Frank McKlusky, C.I. | Ronnie Rosengold | ||
| Juwanna Mann | Lorne Daniels | ||
| Mother Ghost | Dr. Norris | ||
| The Santa Clause 2 | Cupid | Cameo appearance | |
| 2003 | Rolling Kansas | Agent Brinkley | Uncredited |
| Blizzard | Archimedes | ||
| 2004 | Seven Times Lucky | Harlan | |
| The Whole Ten Yards | Lazlo Gogolak | ||
| Our Time is Up | Dr. Stern | ||
| Shark Tale | Willie (voice) | ||
| 2005 | Hostage | Walter Smith | |
| Director (voice) | |||
| The Aristocrats | Himself | ||
| Niagara Motel | Michael | ||
| 2006 | Cupid | ||
| 2007 | Numb | Tom | |
| 2008 | Otis | Eli | |
| Tortured | Dr. Shaw | Straight to DVD | |
| 2009 | Dr. Simmons | ||
| Middle Men | Curt Allmans | ||
| 2010 | Cop Out | Hunsaker | |
| Hoods | Rudy | ||
| 2011 | Choose | Sheriff Tom Wagner | |
| Red State | ATF Agent Brooks | ||
| The Big Year | Eli | ||
| 2012 | Columbus Circle | Klandermann | Also co-writer and co-executive producer |
| The Magic of Belle Isle | Joe Viola | ||
| 2013 | Chez Upshaw | Heaton Upshaw | Also producer |
| Max Rose | Christopher Rose | ||
| 3 Geezers! | Kevin | ||
| A Country Christmas | Max Schmucker | ||
| Grace Unplugged | Frank 'Mossy' Mostin | ||
| 2014 | The One I Wrote for You | Mickey | |
| 2015 | Borealis | 'Tubby' | |
| Camino | Donald | ||
| The Night Is Young | Producer | ||
| Misery Loves Comedy | Co-writer/director | ||
| 2016 | Compadres | 'Tex The Banker' | |
| Special Correspondents | Geoffrey Mallard | ||
| The Tiger Hunter | Frank Womack | ||
| War Dogs | Ralph Slutzky | ||
| The Late Bloomer | Director | ||
| 2017 | Axis | Cru (voice) | |
| Three Christs | Dr. Orbus | ||
| 2018 | Lez Bomb | George | |
| Benjamin | Rick | ||
| The Front Runner | Bob Martindale | ||
| 2019 | Goalie | Jack Adams | |
| Teacher | Bernard Cooper | ||
| Apparition | Warden White | ||
| 2021 | Injustice | The Joker / Jonathan Kent (voice) | |
| 2023 | Sweetwater | Abe Saperstein | |
| 2024 | Goodrich | Sy |
| 1985 | Voice Characterization | Television film | |
| 1987 | Amen | Photographer | Episode: "Thelma's Choice" |
| 1987 | Thirtysomething | Walter, the Bookstore Guy | Episode: "But Not for Me" |
| 1987 | Who's the Boss? | Scott | Episode: "Yellow Submarine" |
| 1988–89 | Coming of Age | Brian Brinker | 15 episodes |
| 1990 | Partners in Life | Eddie Hayes | Television film |
| 1991 | Morton & Hayes | Chick Morton | 6 episodes |
| 1995–96 | The Drew Carey Show | Mr. Bell | 9 episodes |
| 1997 | Perversions of Science | Pilot | Episode: "Boxed In" |
| 1997 | The Don's Analyst | Dr. Julian Riceputo | Television film |
| 1998 | Ruby Bridges | Dr. Robert Coles | Television film |
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Joe Shea | Episode: "Apollo One" |
| 1999–2000 | Work with Me | Jordan Better | 5 episodes; also co-executive producer |
| 2000 | Grasshopper / Mouse (voice) | Episode: "Aesop's Fables: A Whodunnit Musical" | |
| 2001 | Ed | William Johnson | Episode: "Live Deliberately" |
| 2002 | Life with Bonnie | Sidney Portinbody | Episode: "Duets" |
| 2006 | The Lost Room | Karl Kreutzfeld | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 2007 | The Staircase Murders | David Rudolf | Television film |
| 2007–08 | Shark | D.A. Leo Cutler | 8 episodes |
| 2008 | Picture This | Tom Gilbert | Television film |
| 2008 | Entourage | Mr. Bob Levine | Episode: "The All Out Fall Out" |
| 2008–12 | Easy to Assemble | Kevin | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Our Little Genius | Host | |
| 2010 | Vamped Out | Elliot Finke | Web series; also director, creator, writer, and producer |
| 2010 | Million Dollar Money Drop | Host | |
| 2012 | Judge Gerald Crane | Episode: "Theatre Tricks" | |
| 2012 | Men at Work | Pavel | Episode: "Toilet of Eden" |
| 2012 | Childrens Hospital | Kevin Pollak | Episode: "Eulogy" |
| 2013 | Family Tree | Marty Schmelff | Episode: "Indians" |
| 2014 | Garfunkel and Oates | Andrew | Episode: "Road Warriors" |
| 2014–15 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2014–15, 2020 | Mom | Alvin Biletnikoff | 15 episodes |
| 2015 | House of Lies | Joe Gideon | Episode: "Everything's So F**King Obvious, I'm Starting to Wonder Why We're Even Having This Conversation" |
| 2015 | Fracture (voice) | 4 episodes | |
| 2016 | Angel from Hell | Marv Fuller, M.D. | 13 episodes |
| 2016 | Angie Tribeca | Lieutenant Weinberg | Episode: "Beach Blanket Sting-O" |
| 2016 | Drunk History | Ciro Terranova | Episode: "Food" |
| 2017 | The Good Fight | Judge Kyle Gallo | Episode: "Not So Grand Jury" |
| 2017 | Hot Date | Father | Episode: "Double Standards" |
| 2017–22 | Better Things | Marion | 8 episodes |
| 2017–23 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Moishe Maisel | Main cast; 32 episodes |
| 2018 | NCIS | Albert Hathaway | Episode: "Keep Your Friends Close" |
| 2018 | The Simpsons | Ross (voice) | Episode: "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage" |
| 2018 | The Comedy Central Roast | Himself | Episode: "Bruce Willis" |
| 2019 | Billions | Douglas Mason | 5 episodes |
| 2021 | Bernard Nussbaum | Episode: "Exiles" | |
| 2022 | Willow | Rool | Episode: "Wildood" |
| 2023–24 | The Neighborhood | Lamar | Episodes: "Welcome to Fatherhood," "Welcome to the Opening Night," "Welcome to Grandfatherhood" |
| 2023 | The Santa Clauses | Cupid | Episode: "Chapter Eight: Floofy" |
| 2024 | What We Do in the Shadows | Cal Bodian | Episode: "" |
| 2025 | Tulsa King | Special Agent Musso | Main Cast, Season 3 |
| 2009–2019 | Kevin Pollak's Chat Show | Himself/host | Podcast |
| 2018–2020 | Alchemy This | Himself/host | Podcast |
| 2010 | Streamy Awards | Best Hosted Web Series | |
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