Michael J. Pollard

Michael J. Pollard, born Michael John Pollack Jr. on May 30, 1939, in Passaic, New Jersey, was an American character actor and Broadway performer who worked across stage, television, and film from the late 1950s until his death on November 20, 2019. He grew up in the North Jersey communities of Garfield and Clifton, the son of Sonia V. (née Dubanowich) and Michael John Pollack, a bar manager of Polish descent who worked sixty hours a week at O'Rourke's Tap Room. Pollard received his education at Montclair Academy, now known as Montclair Kimberley Academy, and trained at the Actors Studio in New York.

Pollard's stage career spanned from 1958 to 1963, during which he appeared in five Broadway productions: Comes a Day, A Loss of Roses, Leda Had a Little Swan, the musical Bye Bye Birdie, and Enter Laughing. His role in Bye Bye Birdie was that of Hugo Peabody, a non-singing part he originated in the production's initial Broadway run. His work in Enter Laughing also drew notice from critics, with film critic Roger Ebert singling him out for praise in his portrayal of Marvin, the protagonist's friend.

His earliest professional work was in television, where he accumulated multiple credits in 1959 alone. That year he appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, playing a shoeshine boy in "Appointment at Eleven" and herpetologist Hansel Eidelpfeiffer in "Anniversary Gift." He also portrayed Homer McCauley, the dramatic lead in a television adaptation of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy, broadcast as part of the DuPont Show of the Month and narrated by Burgess Meredith, and appeared in the NBC espionage series Five Fingers. Later television credits included a 1959 appearance on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis as Jerome Krebs, a cousin of the show's regular character Maynard G. Krebs, and a 1962 role on The Andy Griffith Show as Virgil, a socially awkward but talented cousin of Deputy Barney Fife. That same year he appeared in an unaired 1962 pilot written by Woody Allen, alongside Alan Alda and Louise Lasser, though his role went uncredited. In 1963, he played Digby Popham in the Walt Disney musical Summer Magic opposite Hayley Mills, and appeared in episodes of Channing and Going My Way. Additional television appearances through the mid-1960s included roles on Gunsmoke, The Lucy Show, Honey West, I Spy, and the original Star Trek series, in which he played the teenage leader of an all-child planet in the 1966 episode "Miri."

Pollard's film career reached its most prominent point in 1967 with his supporting role as C. W. Moss in Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, alongside Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, and Estelle Parsons. The performance earned him nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and a British Academy Film Award, which he won for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The role also led to a satirical 1968 presidential candidacy, accompanied by a campaign song recorded by DJ and recording artist Jim Lowe. Also in 1967, he played the lead role in Derek May's short drama Niagara Falls.

Among his other notable film appearances were The Wild Angels (1966), in which he played an uncredited role as Stanley, a runny-nosed airplane mechanic in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), the British World War II comedy Hannibal Brooks (1969), and the cult motorcycle racing film Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), in which he starred opposite Robert Redford. He took the title role in the revisionist western Dirty Little Billy (1972), portraying a young Billy the Kid in the days before his notoriety, set in Coffeyville, Kansas. Later film credits included a key supporting role in the 1980 cult film Melvin and Howard, a part as volunteer firefighter Andy in the 1987 Steve Martin film Roxanne, American Gothic (1988), and Tango & Cash (1989). Television work continued into the 1970s and 1980s, including a 1974 appearance in the trucking series Movin' On and six episodes of the CBS comedy series Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills (1986) with Harvey Korman and Valerie Perrine.

Pollard stood five feet six inches tall, a physical attribute that allowed him to be cast in youthful roles well into his thirties. He was recognized throughout his career for a distinctive appearance — including a bulbous nose and dimpled chin — and for a screen presence associated with quirky, offbeat supporting characters that earned him a lasting cult following.