Richard Portnow (born January 26, 1947) is an American actor known for such films and television series as ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as a radio DJ on Armed Forces Radio Service, wh ...

'', ''

Barton Fink ''Barton Fink'' is a 1991 American period black comedy psychological thriller film written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hir ...

'', ''

Kindergarten Cop ''Kindergarten Cop'' is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to apprehe ...

'', '' Seven'', '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'', '' The Spirit'', ''

Law Abiding Citizen ''Law Abiding Citizen'' is a 2009 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray, written by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler (who also co-produced). The film takes place in Philadelphia, telling the stor ...

'', '' Private Parts'', ''

Fallen Arches ''The Venture Bros.'' ran for seven seasons. The first three seasons consisted of 13 thirty-minute episodes (including time for commercials), plus the pilot and one 15-minute Christmas special. The fourth season consisted of 15 thirty-minute episo ...

'', '' Double Down'', ''

Poolhall Junkies ''Poolhall Junkies'' is a 2002 drama, thriller, and sports film co-written, starring, and directed by Mars Callahan. The film also features Alison Eastwood, Michael Rosenbaum, Rick Schroder, Rod Steiger (in his final film role), Chazz Palmint ...

'', ''Spring Break '83'', ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a t ...

'', ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'', '' Trumbo'', '' Oldboy'', ''

Find Me Guilty ''Find Me Guilty'' is a 2006 American courtroom comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Sidney Lumet. The film is based on the true story of the longest Mafia trial in American history. Much of the courtroom testimony was taken from the or ...

'', ''

Underdogs An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

'' and ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 200 ...

''.

Early life and education

Portnow was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree as a speech and theater major from

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

Career

Portnow was named one of the "Actors We Love" from the actors' trade newspaper '' Back Stage West'' with the newspaper saying "Portnow knows exactly how to hook an audience with every character".

1990s

Portnow played the role of defense attorney Harold "Mel" Melvoin on the Emmy-winning HBO series ''

'' (1999), the lawyer for

Uncle Junior Corrado John "Junior" Soprano Jr., portrayed by Dominic Chianese, is a fictional character from the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos''. Usually referred to as "Junior" or "Uncle June", he is the official boss of the DiMeo crime family for most of t ...

2010s

Portnow appeared in Matthew Charles Santoro's sci-fi film ''

Higher Power Higher Power is a term used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other twelve-step programs. The same groups use the phrase "a power greater than ourselves" synonymously. The term sometimes refers to a supreme being or deity, or other conceptions of G ...

'', which was released in 2018.FilmBook, March 18, 2018
HIGHER POWER (2018) Movie Trailer: Scientist Colm Feore Gives Ron Eldard Powers to Save Earth by Rollo Tomasi
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portnow, Richard 1947 births Living people People from Brooklyn Male actors from New York City American male film actors American male television actors Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors