Joe Ploski

Joseph Henry Ploski was born on April 16, 1904, in Poland, and went on to become a Polish-born American actor working across stage, film, and television. He died on May 17, 1993, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 89.

Before pursuing acting, Ploski served in the United States Army during World War II, working as a mess-hall cook and saving his earnings to enroll in drama school. He subsequently performed in vaudeville in Hollywood, California, serving as a straight man for comedian Joe E. Lewis, and later worked in New York alongside Imogene Coca and Danny Kaye.

Ploski made his Broadway debut in 1932, taking on the role of Dummy Nolan in the play The Great Magoo. His screen career began four years later with the 1936 film Lady Be Careful, followed by appearances in There Goes My Heart and Romance in the Dark. Over the course of his career he accumulated more than 200 film credits, among them Dr. Broadway, The Dark Corner, The Reckless Moment, Experiment Alcatraz, Guys and Dolls, The Court Jester, The Buster Keaton Story, Jailhouse Rock, Never Steal Anything Small, The Rat Race, To Kill a Mockingbird, Seven Days in May, and Divorce American Style. One of his most recognized film appearances came in the 1953 production Stalag 17, starring William Holden, Don Taylor, and Otto Preminger, in which Ploski played a German Guard.

Television work occupied a significant portion of Ploski's later career. He appeared in multiple episodes of Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Tales of Wells Fargo, and Bonanza, as well as individual appearances on Gunsmoke, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, among other programs. His final screen credit was a role as a diner patron in the 1970 film Airport.