Jack Riley

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.

Boogie Nights

7.6

Spaceballs

6.8

Seinfeld

8.3

That '70s Show

7.9

Married... with Children

7.7

The Player

7.2

History of the World: Part I

6.8

I Dream of Jeannie

7.8

Columbo

8.1

Rugrats

7.6

M*A*S*H

7.9

The Long Goodbye

7.4

The Rugrats Movie

6.2

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie

6.6

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

7.1

High Anxiety

6.4

Catch-22

6.7

Rugrats Go Wild

6.3

Family Matters

6.7

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

5.0

Silent Movie

6.5

Diff'rent Strokes

7.0

Happy Days

7.7

Family Ties

7.2

Kung Fu

7.6

To Be or Not to Be

6.8

Days of Wine and Roses

7.5

All Grown Up!

7.6

The Love Boat

6.3

Touched by an Angel

7.2

Hogan's Heroes

7.5

The Drew Carey Show

6.5

Gleaming the Cube

6.0

Night Court

7.3

California Split

6.6

Hart to Hart

6.8

Frances

6.9

Theodore Rex

3.6

The Rockford Files

7.5

The Garfield Show

5.8

St. Elsewhere

5.5

Simon & Simon

6.7

Punky Brewster

7.4

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud

4.5

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

7.5

Chairman of the Board

3.7

Charles in Charge

6.1

Room 6

4.5

The Bob Newhart Show

7.4

Alice

7.0

Coach

6.8

Newhart

7.1

Barney Miller

7.2

Rugrats: All Growed Up

6.6

Yes, Dear

6.7

The Flying Nun

6.4

Cannon

6.4

Harry and the Hendersons

5.7

The World's Greatest Lover

5.8

Butch and Sundance: The Early Days

4.8

Eight Is Enough

6.0

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

6.5

A Dangerous Woman

5.3

The Bank Shot

5.4

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

6.5

Night Patrol

4.3

Son of the Beach

6.7

Police Woman

6.2

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

7.1

Faerie Tale Theatre

8.2

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

7.4

Avenging Angel

5.1

Rugrats: Tales from the Crib: Snow White

6.5

A Rugrats Passover

7.3

The Todd Killings

4.3

Mike Hammer, Private Eye

6.5

Harry O

4.6

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't

5.8

A Rugrats Chanukah

6.6

In Broad Daylight

5.8

Dave's World

6.4

The History of White People in America

6.2

Rented Lips

4.2

Burl's

6.4

The Snoop Sisters

7.2

Payback

3.5

Portrait of a White Marriage

4.0

Oh, Grow Up

6.5

The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers

6.7

Lots of Luck

7.0

Throb

5.7

Working

4.7

The History of White People in America: Volume II

9.0

Occasional Wife

7.5

Blacke's Magic

5.5

Mathnet

7.0

The Tim Conway Show

7.5

The Rules of Marriage

1.0

Getting Together

5.0

Ladies Man

5.0

The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special

0.0

First The Egg

0.0

Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of 'Silent Movie'

0.0

Love in the Present Tense

0.0

When Your Lover Leaves

0.0

Marriage Is Alive and Well

0.0

Roxie

0.0

Joe and Valerie

0.0

Washingtoon

0.0

George & Leo

0.0