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Richard Kind

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Richard Kind
Kind in 2009
Born
Richard Bruce Kind

(1956-11-22) November 22, 1956 (age 67)
EducationNorthwestern University (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1978–present
Spouse
Dana Stanley
(m. 1999; div. 2018)
Children3

Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include Dr. Mark Devanow in Mad About You (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in Spin City (1996–2002), Andy in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2002–2021), and Captain Stan Yenko in East New York (2022–2023). He appeared in the films Johns (1996), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), Big Stan (2007), A Serious Man (2009), The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014), All We Had (2016), Rifkin's Festival (2020), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and The Out-Laws (2023).

Kind's voice performances in various Pixar films include A Bug's Life (1998), the first two films of the Cars franchise (2006–2011), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Inside Out (2015). He voices Marty Glouberman in the Netflix animated series Big Mouth (2017–present). Kind was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Marcus Hoff in the 2013 Broadway production of The Big Knife.

Early life

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Kind was born in the New Jersey capital of Trenton. He is the son of Alice, a homemaker, and Samuel Kind, a jeweler who formerly owned La Vake's Jewelry in Princeton. With his younger sister, Joanne, he grew up in Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania. Kind attended Pennsbury High School with fellow actor Robert Curtis Brown, and he graduated in 1974.[1] In 1978, Kind graduated from Northwestern University, where he was in the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He is also an alumnus of The Second City in Chicago.[2]

Career

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Television

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Kind portrayed Dr. Mark Devanow on Mad About You (1999),[3] throughout the show's run, and played the role of Paul Lassiter on Spin City (2002).[3] Kind and Michael Boatman were the only two actors to appear in every episode of Spin City. Kind reprised his role in the 2019 revival of Mad About You.[4] While these are two of his highest-profile TV appearances, his first big break on television was as a member of the ensemble cast of Carol Burnett's brief return to sketch comedy, Carol & Company, which ran for two seasons beginning in 1990 on NBC. Kind served as a guest panelist on the 2000 revival of the television game show To Tell the Truth.

He appeared in eight episodes of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm,[3] between 2002 and 2021 as Larry's cousin Andy. In 2006, he guest starred as Lucius Lavin in Stargate Atlantis.,[3] in the episodes "Irresistible" and "Irresponsible," making him the only actor to appear in both the original Stargate film and in Stargate Atlantis (as different characters).

Kind at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles, California in 2010

Kind had a recurring role in Scrubs,[3] as Harvey Corman, an annoying hypochondriac, who claimed that having the same name as Harvey Korman did not "get [him] as much action as you may think". He also played a role on USA's crime comedy Psych[3] as Hugo, an astronomer who killed a partner for credit for the discovery of a planet ("From the Earth to the Starbucks"), and later on Law & Order: Criminal Intent[3] as a wealthy philanthropist who kills his sister-in-law and niece to protect the money he uses to fund his philanthropic work ("Privilege"). Kind guest-starred on the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, where he played the surly Uncle Chuck. He appeared in an episode of CBS' Two and a Half Men[3] with former Spin City co-star Charlie Sheen on November 12, 2007. He also played a small role on TNT's hit show Leverage playing the part of a corrupt mayor in the second season two-part finale. Kind guest-starred on the Netflix series Disjointed, in the episode "The Worst", playing the corrupt DEA officer Special Agent Schwartz.

He played the role of burnt spy Jesse's ex-boss Marv in three episodes of season 4 of Burn Notice. In 2011, Kind guest-starred in an episode of the ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine as Rod the Bod. He starred in the HBO series Luck until its cancellation, and he is also the spokesman for On-Cor frozen foods. In February 2013, he made a guest appearance on Kroll Show.[3]

In 2015, he played the GED instructor on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Mayor Aubrey James in Gotham.[3]

In 2022, he plays police captain Stan Yenko in a CBS police procedural crime drama called East New York, but the show was cancelled after the first season.[5] In 2023, he played Saint Peter in Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part II.[3]

Film

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Kind had a minor role as Gary Meyers, an archaeologist who translated the symbols on the Stargate prior to James Spader's character's involvement in the 1994 movie Stargate.[3] He appeared in the film National Lampoon's Bag Boy in 2007.[3] Kind played David's father in the Prime series "Red Oaks".[3]

In 2007, Kind played a short role in the indie film The Visitor as Richard Jenkins's neighbor, Jacob. Kind starred in the independent black comedy feature, The Understudy in 2008. In 2008, Kind performed the role of Voltaire in the New York City Opera production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Kind played the major supporting role of Arthur Gopnik in the Coen brothers' dark comedy film A Serious Man. He had a small role in Clint Eastwood's Hereafter as Christos Andryo, in 2010. In 2011, he played a supporting dramatic role as Mr. Camp in the feature film Fancypants. In 2012, he was featured in Divorce Invitation.

Actor/director George Clooney is a close friend, and was best man at Kind's wedding to Dana Stanley in 1999.[6] Kind later went on to play the part of a casting director in Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Kind also played himself in the short-lived HBO series Unscripted, which Clooney executive produced and directed with Grant Heslov, and played a small role in the film Argo as screenwriter Max Klein, which was produced by both Clooney and Heslov. He also had a supporting role in Ari Aster's horror film Beau Is Afraid (2023).

Theater

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Kind created the role of Addison Mizner in Stephen Sondheim's Bounce, and has appeared on Broadway in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000), The Producers (2002), and Sly Fox (2004). He also appeared as the "Jury Foreman" in the film The Producers (2005) and played the lead role of Max Bialystock in a Hollywood Bowl production during July 27–29, 2012. He played Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts in Fairfield, Iowa. Kind received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the 2013 Broadway production of The Big Knife.[5] Kind has performed in radio/audio plays for the LA Theatre Works and the Hollywood Theater of the Ear.

Voice work

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His voice credits include Tom in Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Molt in Disney/Pixar's A Bug's Life, Van in Disney/Pixar's Cars and Cars 2, Bookworm in Toy Story 3, the narrator for Disney's Go Baby, and Larry the Anaconda in The Wild. In 2000 he did the voice of Mr. Dobbins in Tom Sawyer. In 2001–2002, he voiced the character of Pongo in five episodes of the animated series Oswald. He had a recurring role on the Disney Channel series Kim Possible as the villain Frugal Lucre. He guest starred in The Penguins of Madagascar as Roger the Alligator in the episodes "Haunted Habitat", "Roger Dodger", "Gator Watch", "April Fools", "The All Nighter Before Christmas", and "Operation: Neighbor Swap". He also played the role of Gumbo in an episode of Chowder on Cartoon Network. Kind guest-starred in Phineas and Ferb in the episode "Perry the Actorpus" as the Totally Tools executive. For audio drama, he appeared in three episodes of Around the Sun.[7] In 2021, he narrated several commercials for Freestyle Libre, a device for diabetes patients to monitor their glucose levels.

Kind voiced Riley's imaginary friend Bing Bong in Pixar's Inside Out.[8][9] He provides the voice of Olly and Saraline's dad Harvey Timbers in Welcome to the Wayne.

Personal life

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Kind was married to Dana Stanley from 1999 to 2018.[10] They have three children: a son, Max, and two daughters, Samantha and Skylar.

Kind resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.[11]

He was inducted into the Pennsbury High School Hall of Fame in the inaugural class on October 13, 2022.[12]

Prior to landing his role on ER, George Clooney stayed at Kind’s apartment in Los Angeles. While living there Clooney played numerous pranks on Kind including one culminating with Clooney defecating in Kind’s cat’s litter box. Clooney also duped Kind into thinking he was both a Jeopardy expert and an aspiring painter.[13]

Filmography

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Discography

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1995 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series Mad About You Nominated [15]
2009 Gotham Awards Best Ensemble Performance A Serious Man Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
2010 Independent Spirit Awards Robert Altman Award Won
2013 Tony Awards Best Featured Actor in a Play The Big Knife Nominated [5][16]
Drama Desk Award Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Beavers, Cary (June 21, 2013). "Tony Award-nominee Richard Kind returns to Pennsbury High School to accept honor, reminisce". Bucks Local News. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "Richard Kind". secondcity.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Richard Kind Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 26, 2019). "'Mad About You': John Pankow & Richard Kind To Reprise Roles In Revival Limited Series For Spectrum Originals". Deadline. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Chai, Barbara (May 30, 2013). "Richard Kind on His Tony Nomination for "The Big Knife"". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  6. ^ Cardoza, Riley (April 29, 2019). "George Clooney's Friend Richard Kind Says He's a 'Great Dad' to Twins". Us Weekly. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  7. ^ Wild, Stephi. "Listen: Adassa and Richard Kind Kick Off New Season of Brad Forenza's AROUND THE SUN". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Truitt, Brian (June 23, 2015). "How Bing Bong kind of steals 'Inside Out'". USA Today. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  9. ^ Terrero, Nina (June 28, 2015). "How Richard Kind turned Bing Bong into the summer's heartbreaking imaginary best friend". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  10. ^ Kaufman, Joanne (May 30, 2013). "The Perfect Apartment, From Memory". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Katz, Eileen (April 4, 2016). "Why Richard Kind Lives on the Upper West Side". West Side Rag.
  12. ^ "Actor, Ex-Eagle Top First Class Inducted Into Pennsbury Hall Of Fame". Levittown, PA Patch. May 30, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  13. ^ https://www.audible.com/podcast/George-Clooney/B099XC3C4J
  14. ^ Simonson, Robert (February 24, 2004). "Bounce Original Cast Recording to Be Released on April 27". Playbill. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  15. ^ "Richard Kind - Awards". IMDb (index source only). Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "Richard Kind". Playbill. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
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