Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian American character actor and

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. He performed on the

Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

as a plate spinner and

juggler Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

Career

Pallana moved to the United States in 1946 and spent 20 years performing around the country before settling down in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

at his wife's insistence, and started a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

studio. Pallana was married to Ranjana Jethwa and had two children, son Dipak and daughter Sandhya. His son Dipak created, owned and operated a cafe called the Cosmic Cup (now Cosmic Cafe)Cosmic Cafe
/ref> in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, where Kumar met director

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by ...

and actor

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...

. Anderson subsequently cast Pallana in his films '' Bottle Rocket'', '' Rushmore'', ''

The Royal Tenenbaums ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen W ...

'' and ''

The Darjeeling Limited ''The Darjeeling Limited'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, which he co-produced with Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, and Lydia Dean Pilcher, and co-wrote with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman. The film stars Owen W ...

''. Pallana also appeared in the Bollywood movie '' Anjaana Anjaani '' (2010) and the acclaimed independent film ''

Another Earth Another or variant may refer to: * anOther or Another Magazine, culture and fashion magazine * ''Another'' (novel), a Japanese horror novel ** ''Another'' (film), a Japanese 2012 live-action film based on the novel * Another River, a river in th ...

'' (2011). A short documentary, ''KUMAR:MKE'', about Pallana's connection to the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

film scene, was released in 2015.

Death

Pallana died on 10 October 2013 at his home in California at age 94.

Personal life

Pallana's daughter Sandhya Pallana worked with him on ''

The Terminal ''The Terminal'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stanley Tucci. The film is about an Eastern European man who is stuck in New York's John F. Kennedy ...

'' and other productions. His son Dipak, also an actor, appeared in films such as '' Bottle Rocket'', '' Rushmore'' and ''

''.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Kumar Pallana interview
1918 births 2013 deaths Male actors from Indore Indian male film actors Vaudeville performers 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Indian male comedians Indian male stage actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian emigrants to the United States {{India-film-actor-stub