Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor and writer. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Memento, as well as such television characters as Commissioner Hugo Jarry in Deadwood, Bob Bishop in Heroes, Sandy Ryerson in Glee, Stu Beggs in Californication and White Famous, "Action" Jack Barker in Silicon Valley, Dr. Leslie Berkowitz in One Day at a Time, Principal Earl Ball in The Goldbergs, and Dr. Schulman in The Mindy Project.

Tobolowsky has a monthly audio podcast, The Tobolowsky Files, of autobiographical stories of his acting and personal life. He has also authored three books: The Dangerous Animals Club, Cautionary Tales, and My Adventures with God.

Early life and education Tobolowsky was born on May 30, 1951, in Dallas. He and his family are of Russian Jewish descent. Tobolowsky grew up creating imaginative games with his brother, and his story The Dangerous Animals Club paints a picture of how unsupervised children in the 20th century could amuse themselves. He showed talent at baseball, but a serious childhood illness ended his career as an athlete before it began. He graduated from Justin F. Kimball High School and Southern Methodist University. He received a master's degree from the University of Illinois in 1975.

Tobolowsky is a cousin of Dallas attorney Ira Tobolowsky, who was murdered in his home in 2016 by a disgruntled former litigant. George Tobolowsky, Ira's brother and Stephen's cousin, is a sculptor.

Stephen Tobolowsky also played in a band called A Cast of Thousands, which had two songs, "Red, White and Blue" and "I Heard a Voice Last Night", on a compilation of local Dallas bands called A New Hi. Both of these songs featured Steve Vaughan on guitar, who would be later known as Stevie Ray Vaughan.A New Hi (Dallas 1971)

Career Tobolowsky has appeared in over 200 films, plus many television projects. He has also worked in the theater, directing and acting in plays in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He directed one film, Two Idiots in Hollywood, based on his play of the same name. He also co-wrote the film True Stories with David Byrne and Beth Henley. While writing True Stories, he told Byrne about his supposed psychic abilities, which inspired Byrne to write the song "Radio Head" for the film. Tobolowsky was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for the 2002 revival of Morning's at Seven.

On October 29, 2009, Tobolowsky started a new podcast on /Film called The Tobolowsky Files, where he tells stories, in a similar fashion to Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party (2005). The show was picked up by Public Radio International in 2012.Public Radio International® signs actor, writer Stephen Tobolowsky to create new storytelling series for radio, prnewswire.com; accessed April 8, 2015.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1977 Keep My Grave Open Robert 1984 The Philadelphia Experiment Barney Swing Shift French deMille, Documentary Narrator 1986 Nobody's Fool Kirk 1987 Spaceballs Captain of the Guard 1988 Mississippi Burning Clayton Townley Two Idiots in Hollywood Prosecuting Attorney Also writer and director1989 Checking Out Pharmacist Breaking In District Attorney Great Balls of Fire! Jud Phillips In Country Pete 1990 Bird on a Wire Joe Weyburn Funny About Love Hugo Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Mayor Bill Klepler Credited as Stephen Tobolowski The Grifters Jeweler Mirror, Mirror Mr. Anderson 1991 Wedlock Warden Holliday Thelma & Louise Max 1992 Basic Instinct Dr. Lamott Where the Day Takes You Charles Hero Wallace Memoirs of an Invisible Man Warren Singleton Single White Female Mitchell Myerson Roadside Prophets Ranger Bob Sneakers Dr. Werner Brandes 1993 Josh and S.A.M. Thom Whitney Calendar Girl Antonio Gallo The Pickle Mike Krakower Groundhog Day Ned Ryerson 1994 Trevor Father Jon My Father the Hero Mike Radioland Murders Max Applewhite 1995 Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Oliver Mintz Murder in the First Mr. Henkin 1996 The Glimmer Man Christopher Maynard Power 98 Rick Harris Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco Bando (voice) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.1997 Boys Life 2 Father John The Curse of Inferno Lonnie Martin Mr. Magoo Agent Chuck Stupak 1998 An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn Bill Bardo Black Dog McClaren The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story Tabaqui (voice) Around the Fire Doc The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars Calculator (voice) Credited as Stephen Tobolowski1999 The Insider Eric Kluster One Man's Hero Captain Gaine 2000 Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes Dewey Wise Bossa Nova Trevor The Operator Doc Memento Sammy Jankis Stanley's Gig Abe Cohen 2001 The Prime Gig Mick Freddy Got Fingered Uncle Neil Uncredited2002 Love Liza Tom Bailey The Country Bears Norbert Barrington Ritual Dr. Javitz Uncredited2003 National Security Billy Narthax View from the Top Frank Thomas Uncredited Freaky Friday Mr. Elton Bates Frankie and Johnny Are Married Murray Mintz 2004 Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! George Ruddy Garfield Happy Chapman / Walter J. Chapman Little Black Book Carl Debating Robert Lee Debate Judge 2005 Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous Tom Abernathy Robots Bigmouth Executive, Forge (voice) Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party Himself Living 'til the End Dr. Shaw 2006 The Sasquatch Gang Ernie Dalrymple Failure to Launch Bud Pope Dreams Carl Venable Blind Dating Dr. Perkins National Lampoon's Totally Baked: A Potumentary Jesco Rollins 2007 Wild Hogs Charley Boxboarders! Dr. Stephen James Loveless in Los Angeles Jon 2008 The Rainbow Tribe Principal Sands Beethoven's Big Break Sal DeMarco Video2009 The Time Traveler's Wife Dr. Kendrick 2010 Buried Alan Davenport (voice) Hard Breakers Ephraim Peep World Ephraim 2011 You May Not Kiss the Bride Plumber The Last Ride Ray 2012 A Little Something on the Side Larry Short The Lorax Uncle Ubb (voice) Pearblossom Hwy Rick Lawler 2014 The Barber Chief Gary Hardaway Mr. Peabody & Sherman Principal Purdy (voice) Atlas Shrugged: Part III Dr. Hugh Akston Christian Mingle Douglas McCarver 2015 Hollywood Adventures Wronald Wright 2016 Welcome to the Men's Group Carl Six LA Love Stories Professor John Dobler The Confirmation Father Lyons Guys and Girls Can't Be Friends Andy 2017 Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown Andy Gunderson (voice) Mamaboy Reverend Weld 2018 Strange Nature Mayor Paulson Monsters At Large Mr. Phillips 2019 Fractured Dr. Berthram 2023 Candy Cane Lane Mr. Benedetto Poolman Stephen Toronkowski/Blanche 2025 Freakier Friday Mr. Elton Bates Mimics 2026 Freaks Part II

Television