Jack Riley
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 30, 1935
- Died
- Aug 19, 2016 (aged 80)
- Place of birth
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Credits
- 122
John Albert Riley Jr. (December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016) was an American actor, comedian 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.
Riley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. Riley (née Corrigan) and John Albert Riley. After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, he served in the U.S. Army.
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.
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, Riley was perhaps most famous for playing Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour, and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show 1972–1978. In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Fun-House, 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. Riley then, in 1980, appeared in a comedy special for HBO called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter. 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. In 1985, he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St. Elsewhere, 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. 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).
Riley often provided voiceovers for television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine. He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for CompUSA that aired in the 1990s. 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.
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. He made a cameo appearance on the November 23, 2013, episode of Saturday Night Live, as a subway passenger during the sketch "Matchbox 3". That episode would be his final acting role.
Known for
Filmography
Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of 'Silent Movie'
2009Movie
Self
The Garfield Show
2009TV
Ghost Cat (voice)
Avenging Angel
2007Movie
Elder
Room 6
2006Movie
James Brewster
Rugrats: Tales from the Crib: Snow White
2005Movie
Stu (voice)
Rugrats Go Wild
2003Movie
Stuart 'Stu' Pickles (voice)
Burl's
2003Movie
Gym Instructor
All Grown Up!
2003TV
Stu Pickles (voice)
Rugrats: Decade in Diapers
2002Movie
Stu Pickles
Rugrats: All Growed Up
2001Movie
Stu Pickles (voice)
Recess: School's Out
2001Movie
Golfer #1 (voice)
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
2000Movie
Stu Pickles (voice)
Yes, Dear
2000TV
Mr. Shipley
Son of the Beach
2000TV
Oh, Grow Up
1999TV
The Rugrats Movie
1998Movie
Stuart 'Stu' Pickles (voice)
That '70s Show
1998TV
Old Man Shinsky
Chairman of the Board
1998Movie
Condom Boss
Working
1997TV
Chaplain
Boogie Nights
1997Movie
Lawyer
Mike Hammer, Private Eye
1997TV
George & Leo
1997TV
A Rugrats Vacation
1997Movie
Stu Pickles (voice)
A Rugrats Chanukah
1996Movie
Stu Pickles (voice)
Theodore Rex
1995Movie
Alaric
The Drew Carey Show
1995TV
Mr. Jones
Touched by an Angel
1994TV
Leo
A Rugrats Passover
1994Movie
Stu Pickles (voice)
Sesame Street Stays Up Late!
1993Movie
Jack(uncredited)
Dave's World
1993TV
Guy
A Dangerous Woman
1993Movie
Bandleader
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
1992TV
Mr. Graves
The Player
1992Movie
Jack Riley
The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special
1991Movie
Elliot Carlin
Rugrats
1991TV
Stu Pickles (voice)
Harry and the Hendersons
1991TV
Leonard
Family Matters
1989TV
Wayne
Seinfeld
1989TV
Rider
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud
1989Movie
Wade
Coach
1989TV
Oliver
Gleaming the Cube
1989Movie
Homeowner
Portrait of a White Marriage
1988Movie
Roy Bloomer
Rented Lips
1988Movie
Herb the Auditor
Payback
1988Movie
Coroner
Martin Mull Live from North Ridgeville, Ohio
1987Movie
Self
Spaceballs
1987Movie
TV Newsman
Married... with Children
1987TV
Wendell
Roxie
1987TV
Leon Buchanan
Mathnet
1987TV
Mr. Dwight Ledbetter
Throb
1986TV
Blacke's Magic
1986TV
The History of White People in America: Volume II
1986Movie
Scientist
Washingtoon
1985TV
The History of White People in America
1985Movie
Scientist
First the Egg
1985Movie
Mr. White
Lots of Luck
1985Movie
Marvin
Night Patrol
1984Movie
Doctor Ziegler
Charles in Charge
1984TV
Professor Kleeman
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
1984Movie
Sexton / Deacon
Punky Brewster
1984TV
Snipes
Body Language
1984TV
Self
Finders Keepers
1984Movie
Ormond
Night Court
1984TV
Dr. Flick, Emil Dutton, Beepo the Clown, Jim Wimberly
To Be or Not to Be
1983Movie
Dobish
When Your Lover Leaves
1983Movie
Ralph
Frances
1982Movie
Bob Barnes
St. Elsewhere
1982TV
Elliot Carlin
Newhart
1982TV
Patient
Family Ties
1982TV
Earl Quigley
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982TV
Sexton / Deacon
The Rules of Marriage
1982Movie
Herb Gallup
Love in the Present Tense
1982Movie
Alex
Simon & Simon
1981TV
Dr. Robert P. Medlow
History of the World: Part I
1981Movie
Stoned Soldier #2 - The Roman Empire
Ladies' Man
1980TV
The Tim Conway Show
1980TV
Self
Marriage Is Alive and Well
1980Movie
Owen
The Halloween That Almost Wasn't
1979Movie
Wolf Man
Hart to Hart
1979TV
Norman Culp
Butch and Sundance: The Early Days
1979Movie
Messenger
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
1978Movie
Citizen (uncredited)
Diff'rent Strokes
1978TV
Mr. Crocker
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
1978Movie
Salesman
Joe and Valerie
1978TV
Ed Sweetzer
High Anxiety
1977Movie
The Desk Clerk
The World's Greatest Lover
1977Movie
Projectionist
The Love Boat
1977TV
Miles Metcalf
Eight Is Enough
1977TV
Alice
1976TV
Silent Movie
1976Movie
Executive
Barney Miller
1975TV
Frederick Clooney, Robert Lovell
The Rockford Files
1974TV
Adrian Lyman
Police Woman
1974TV
Joe
Harry O
1974TV
Eddie Stern, Barney Hamilton
California Split
1974Movie
Second Bartender
The Bank Shot
1974Movie
Agent Jackson, Jackson
Happy Days
1974TV
Officer O'Reilly
The Snoop Sisters
1973TV
Ollie Robertson
The Long Goodbye
1973Movie
Riley
Barnaby Jones
1973TV
Norm Ricks
Kung Fu
1972TV
Royal
M*A*S*H
1972TV
Capt. Kaplan
The Bob Newhart Show
1972TV
Elliot Carlin
The Todd Killings
1971Movie
Record Company Executive
In Broad Daylight
1971Movie
Cab Driver #3 (uncredited)
Getting Together
1971TV
Columbo
1971TV
Director
Cannon
1971TV
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
1971Movie
Riley Quinn
The Partridge Family
1970TV
Corporal Wrzesinski
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970TV
Barry Barlow, Eldon Colfax
Catch-22
1970Movie
Doctor
Love, American Style
1969TV
Danny
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968TV
Self, Lyndon B. Johnson (uncredited)
The Flying Nun
1967TV
Leo
Occasional Wife
1966TV
I Dream of Jeannie
1965TV
Frank
Hogan's Heroes
1965TV
Captain
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964TV
Larry
Days of Wine and Roses
1963Movie
Waiter (uncredited)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961TV
Self
The Red Skelton Show
1951TV
Gunslinger, Clergyman, Minor Role, Paul