Stephen Tobolowsky

STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY

Date of Birth: May 30, 1951

If you have been watching films in the past 20 years, chances are you've scene Stephen Tobolowsky and are not aware of it. The character actor from Dallas, Texas has an impressive list of roles in multiple genre films ranging from comedies to thrillers and drama.

Acting for Tobolowsky began as early as age five when he attended the Keist Park Summer Drama Program. Spending his summers working for the Museum of Natural History in Dallas, Tobolowsky decided to give acting a pass after high school and focus his attention on geology at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. This, however, did not last long as he began shifting his attentions towards acting again.

After getting thrown out of the professional acting program in his junior year at SMU, he retorted by getting his Equity card and worked in Dallas as a professional actor. After gaining experience in the field, he went to the University of Illinois to get his Masters degree in Acting. There he taught theatre to freshmen and played roles considered too challenging for underclassmen.

By the mid 1970s, Tobolowsky moved to Los Angeles and New York where he continued his acting career on stage. As well as acting, he began to write and direct a number of plays including Two Idiots in Hollywood and True Stories. He also began working for the film industry, but it wasn't until the mid-80s that his film work really started to take flight.

In 1985 he met Alan Parker, director of Mississippi Burning (1988). Landing the part of Townley in the successful film exposed Tobolowsky to the rest of the film industry. Since then he has appeared in more than 50 movies and more than 100 television shows. Some of his more popular films include Bird on a Wire (1990), The Grifters (both 1990), Thelma and Louise (1991), Basic Instinct, Single White Female (both 1992) Groundhog Day (1993), Radioland Murders (1994), Murder in the First (1995), Mr. Magoo (1997), Black Dog (1998), The Insider (1999), and Memento (2000).

His impressive list of dramatic and comedic television credits includes appearances on Seinfeld, Chicago Hope, The Practice and Mad About You, and regular work with Disney's Hercules voicing Numericles, Mr. Rhodes, Dweebs, Against the Grain and Black River.

Tobolowsky is married to fellow actor Ann Hearn.

Filmography:

A View from the Top (2003)
Adaptation (2002)
The Country Bears (2002)
Par 6 (2002)
Love Liza (2002)
It Is What It Is (2001)
Freddy Got Fingered (2001) (uncredited)
Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes (2000)
Urban Chaos Theory (2000)
Memento (2000)
The Prime Gig (2000)
Stanley's Gig (2000)
Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion (2000)
The Operator (2000)
Bossa Nova (2000)
The Insider (1999)
One Man's Hero (1999)
Around the Fire (1999)
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998) (V) (voice)
Black Dog (1998)
The Curse of Inferno (1997)
Mr. Magoo (1997)
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
Boys Life 2 (1997)
The Glimmer Man (1996)
Power 98 (1996)
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996) (voice)
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995)
Murder in the First (1995)
Trevor (1994)
Radioland Murders (1994)
My Father the Hero (1994)
Josh and S.A.M. (1993)
Calendar Girl (1993)
The Pickle (1993)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Roadside Prophets (1992)
Hero (1992)
Where the Day Takes You (1992)
Sneakers (1992)
Single White Female (1992)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Mirror, Mirror (1990)
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)
Funny About Love (1990)
The Grifters (1990)
Bird on a Wire (1990)
Breaking In (1989)
In Country (1989)
Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
Checking Out (1989)
Two Idiots in Hollywood (1988)
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Spaceballs (1987)
Nobody's Fool (1986)
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
Swing Shift (1984)
Keep My Grave Open (1976)