Exclusive Photo: Cinema Royalty & Character Actor Bob Balaban

Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 9, 2024 - 3:32pm

CHICAGO – The seemingly middle-of-the-road character actor Bob Balaban has more to his legacy than just a ton of appearances from the 1960s to present in classic films and TV. His Chicago family were pioneers in film exhibition and the movie executive suite during the studio system in the early days of the history of film. It is in his DNA.

The amazing story of Chicago’s Balaban family began soon after they emigrated from Russia. His uncles formed a coalition with Sam Katz to build theaters. The Balaban & Katz brand meant the highest quality movie palaces eventually, the ultimate in the early 20th Century movie experience before television … two prominent theaters still standing are the city-symbolic Chicago Theatre and the still-closed-but-still-standing Uptown Theatre. Bob was born in Chicago, and his father built his favorite theatre icon (as told in the Podtalk below). For the final flourish, his uncle Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures through astounding industry transitions from 1936 to 1964.

Bob Balaban at the 2023 Chicago Humanities Festival
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Bob Balaban made his memorable film acting debut in the Oscar winning “Midnight Cowboy” (1969, story in Podtalk). His classic character roles in movie history are literally too numerous to mention, but include “Catch-22,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind, “Altered States,” “Bob Roberts,” “Best in Show,” “Capote,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and in 2023 “80 for Brady” and “Asteroid City.” And yes, he did five episodes of “Seinfeld,” an appearance as Phoebe’s Dad in “Friends” and most recently a memorable turn in Netflix’s “The Politician.”

Bob Balaban was in Chicago in October of 2023 to host Ed Begley Jr. in Conversation at the Chicago Humanities Festival. HollywoodChicago.com photographer Joe Arce got the Exclusive Photo above and Patrick McDonald got the short Podtalk below …

For more on Bob Balaban, click BOB B. For more information about the Chicago Humanities Festival, click ChicagoHumanities.org.

CLICK HERE for the 10 BEST FILMS of 2023 List by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com (Bob Balaban appeared in “Asteroid City.”).