Bob Balaban

ActorProducerDirectorWriterCrew Aug 16 (age 80) Chicago, Illinois, USA 1961–2026 (65 year career)

6.3 avg rating

Biography

Robert Elmer Balaban, Born: August 16, 1945, Chicago, Illinois, U.S (Height: 5' 5" [1.65 m]). is an American actor, author, comedian, director, and producer. He is best known for his appearances in the Christopher Guest mockumentary comedies Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006), as well as his roles in the films Midnight Cowboy (1969), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Altered States (1980), 2010 (1984), Deconstructing…

Known For

Film

The Grand Budapest Hotel

M. Martin

Film

Moonrise Kingdom

The Narrator

Film

Isle of Dogs

King (voice)

Film

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

David Laughlin

Film

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Uncle Nick

Film

Midnight Cowboy

The Young Student

Film

Oz

Director

Film

Ghost World

Enid's Dad

Filmography

Acting (140)

Movies (100)

Fantasy Life

2026

as Lenny

Bad Actors

2024

Asteroid City

2023

as Larkings Executive

6.4

80 for Brady

2023

as Mark

6.3

Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy

2023

as Self

5.8

How Dare You Want More: The Short Film

2022

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

2021

as Uncle Nick

7.0

How Moving

2021

as Uncle Aaron

Carl Laemmle

as Himself

Isle of Dogs

as King (voice)

An L.A. Minute

as Shelley

Spielberg

as Self

Starring Austin Pendleton

2016

as Self

6.7

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

as Mr. Waxcap

Mascots

as Sol Lumpkin

Mike Nichols: An American Master

2016

as Self

6.3

Eva Hesse

2016

as Wilhelm Hesse (voice)

6.5

Exploring the Set of 'Moonrise Kingdom'

2015

as Self / The Narrator

Everything Is Copy

as Self

Hitchcock/Truffaut

as Narrator (voice)

The Grand Budapest Hotel

2014

as M. Martin

8.0

The Monuments Men

2014

as Pvt. Preston Savitz

6.1

Fading Gigolo

2013

as Sol

5.8

Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

2013

as Lawyer (uncredited)

Moonrise Kingdom

as The Narrator

Thin Ice

as Leonard Dahl

Girl Most Likely

as Maxwell

Do You Like to Read?

as The Narrator

The Five Stages of Grief

2011

as Voice of Daniel's father

7.0

Howl

2010

as Judge Clayton Horn

F--k

as Bob

Rage

as Mr. White

The Windmill Movie

as Self

Recount

as Ben Ginsberg

No Reservations

as Therapist

License to Wed

as Jewelry Store Clerk (uncredited)

5.7

Dedication

2007

as Arthur Planck

6.4

Prince of the City: The Real Story

2007

as Self / Santimassino

Controversy and Acclaim: The Timelessness of a Groundbreaking Film

2006

as Self

Lady in the Water

2006

as Harry Farber

5.5

For Your Consideration

as Philip Koontz

Capote

as William Shawn

Trust the Man

as Tobey's Therapist

Kramer vs. Kramer: Kenny to Cosmo

2004

as Self

Scene Stealers

2004

as Jonathan Crouch Esq.

Marie and Bruce

2004

as Roger

4.1

A Mighty Wind

2003

as Jonathan Steinbloom

6.8

The Tuxedo

2002

as Winton Chalmers (uncredited)

5.7

The Making of Gosford Park

as Self

The Mexican

as Bernie Nayman

Ghost World

as Enid's Dad

The Majestic

as Elvin Glyde

Gosford Park

as Morris Weissman

Plan B

as James Foster

The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

2001

as Self

6.8

Best in Show

2000

as Dr. Theodore W. Millbank, III

6.9

Tex, the Passive/Aggressive Gunslinger

2000

as Tex

Swing Vote

1999

as Justice Eli MacCorckle

Jakob the Liar

as Kowalsky

Three to Tango

as Decker

Cradle Will Rock

as Harry Hopkins

The Monster Hunter

as Dr. William Powell

Giving Up the Ghost

as Bob

The Definite Maybe

as Wolfe Rollins

Deconstructing Harry

as Richard

Conversation with the Beast

1997

as Mr. Webster

Clockwatchers

as Milton Lasky

Waiting for Guffman

as Lloyd Miller

The Late Shift

as Warren Littlefield

6.4

Pie in the Sky

1996

as Paul Entamen

6.6

George Romero's Golden Tales 2

1995

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold

1994

as Dr. Jeffrey Sanborn (uncredited)

Greedy

as Ed

For Love or Money

as Ed Drinkwater

Amos & Andrew

as Dr. R. A. (Roy) Fink

5.5

Bob Roberts

1992

as Cutting Edge Producer

6.5

Unnatural Pursuits

1992

as Lou Finkleberg

Little Man Tate

as Quizmaster

The Face of Fear

as Ira Preduski

Alice

as Sid Moscowitz

Dead Bang

as Elliott Webley

Funny

as Self

End of the Line

as Warren Gerber

2010

as Dr. R. Chandra

Nothing Lasts Forever

1984

as Guy with Sunglasses in Espresso Bar

6.2

2010 : The Odyssey Continues

1984

as Himself

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

as Carter Hill

Absence of Malice

as Elliott Rosen

Prince of the City

as Santimassino

Altered States

as Arthur Rosenberg

Girlfriends

as Martin

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977

as David Laughlin

7.4

Report to the Commissioner

as Joey Egan

The Bank Shot

as Victor Karp

Marriage: Year One

as Bernie

Making It

as Wilkie

Catch-22

as Capt. Orr

The Strawberry Statement

as Elliot

Midnight Cowboy

as The Young Student

Me, Natalie

as Morris

Television (40)

Severance

as Mark Wilkins

The Chair

as Elliot Rentz

Space Force

as Ron (voice)

The Politician

as Keaton Hobart

Summer Camp Island

as Gerald (voice)

Condor

as Reuel Abbott

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction

2018

as Self

6.8

Wormwood

2017

as Dr. Harold A. Abramson

Graves

as Secretary Burns

Show Me a Hero

as Leonard B. Sand

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

as Self

Broad City

as Arthur Wexler

Alpha House

as Senator Elliot Robeson

7.2

Family Tree

2013

as Melvin Schmelff / Tumbleweed Tim

Girls

as Therapist

China, IL

as (voice)

Web Therapy

as Ted Mitchell

Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood

as Self

The Good Wife

as Gordon Higgs

Web Therapy

as Ted Mitchell

American Dad!

as Glen Hanover (voice)

Hopeless Pictures

Entourage

as Doctor

Tom Goes to the Mayor

2004

as Walt Pickle (voice)

The West Wing

as Ted Marcus

Now and Again

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist

as Bob (voice)

Legend

Friends

as Frank Sr.

The Simpsons

as Narrator (voice)

Seinfeld

as Russell Dalrymple

Amazing Stories

as Jo-Jo Gillespie

Miami Vice

as Ira Stone

Fridays

as Self

Maude

as Ambrose Riley

Love, American Style

as Nick

Room 222

The Mod Squad

Hank

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

as Self

5.4

Crew (42)

Movies (25)

Brooklyn, Minnesota

2024

Producer

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

2018

Executive Producer

6.8

We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss

Director

Georgia O'Keeffe

Director

Bernard and Doris

Director

Bernard and Doris

Executive Producer

The Exonerated

Director

The Exonerated

Executive Producer

Gosford Park

Idea

Gosford Park

Producer

The Wedding Toast

Director

The Wedding Toast

1999

Producer

Subway Stories

1997

Director

5.5

George Romero's Golden Tales 3

1995

Director

3.0

George Romero's Golden Tales 2

1995

Writer

The Last Good Time

Director

The Last Good Time

Producer

The Last Good Time

Screenplay

My Boyfriend's Back

Director

Stephen King's Golden Tales

1993

Writer

4.2

Tales from the Darkside

Director

Parents

Director

Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread

Director

The Brass Ring

Director

Trick or Treat

Director

Television (17)

Graves

Director

Alpha House

Director

Nurse Jackie

Director

Swingtown

Director

The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman

Producer

The Twilight Zone

Director

Strangers with Candy

Director

Now and Again

Director

LateLine

Director

Director

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist

Additional Writing

Legend

Director

Eerie, Indiana

Director

Amazing Stories

Director

Tales from the Darkside

1984

Director

7.2

Tales from the Darkside

Writer

Maude

Director