John Albert Riley Jr. (December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016) was an American actor and writer. He is known for playing Elliot Carlin, a chronic psychology client of

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (September 5, 1929 – July 18, 2024) was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in ...

's character on ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American television sitcom produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychol ...

'', and for voicing Stu Pickles, one of the parents in the animated ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...

'' franchise.

Early life

Riley was born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. Riley (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Corrigan) and John Albert Riley. After attending Saint Ignatius High School and

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

, he served in the U.S. Army. After being discharged, Riley became a popular radio personality in Cleveland, along with his radio partner and "straight man" Jeff Baxter; ''The Baxter & Riley Show'' on WERE (1300 AM) featured not only music but comedy sketches and a slew of offbeat characters that Riley and Baxter voiced. Riley gave up the radio show in the mid-1960s and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where his Cleveland friend

Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where he port ...

helped him obtain work writing comedy sketches, which later led to acting opportunities.

Career

First a semi-regular in the cast of the 1960s sitcom ''

Occasional Wife ''Occasional Wife'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 13, 1966 until August 29, 1967. Plot Peter Christopher is a New York bachelor who enjoys the single life but is blocked in his professional advancement without a wife. ...

'', a short-lived show on NBC in which he played Wally Frick, Riley was perhaps most famous for playing Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour, and selfish patient on ''

'' 1972–1978. In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in ''The Addams Family Fun-House'', then in 1979, he starred in ABC's holiday telefilm ''

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't ''The Halloween That Almost Wasn't'' is a 1979 American television special that revolves around Dracula ( Judd Hirsch) trying to save Halloween from the Witch ( Mariette Hartley) who threatens it. It won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individua ...

'' (also known as ''The Night Dracula Saved The World'') as Warren the

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In 1980, Riley appeared in a comedy special for HBO called ''The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter''. He was a regular cast member in '' The Tim Conway Show'', a comedy-variety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through late summer 1981, acting in

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

in each episode. In 1985, he reprised his ''Bob Newhart Show'' role of Elliot Carlin on ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' is an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...

'', and did so again in a 1987 episode of '' ALF''. Among his other TV credits are multiple appearances on such shows as ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...

'' (parodying Lyndon Johnson), '' M*A*S*H'', ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village (Lower Manhattan). The series was broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Janu ...

'', ''

Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy which is set in a Prisoner-of-war camp, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, and centers around a group of Allied prisoner ...

'', ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'', '' One Day at a Time'', ''

Gomer Pyle Gomer Pyle is a fictional character played by Jim Nabors and introduced in the middle of the third season of '' The Andy Griffith Show''. A naive and gentle auto mechanic, he became a recurring character with the January 1963 episode "Man i ...

'', ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...

'', and ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 4, 1984, and ended on May 31, 1992, after nine seasons consisting of List of Night Court episodes, 193 episodes. The show is set in the night shift of a Manhattan ...

''. He was also a favorite of

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

, appearing in several of his films: '' High Anxiety'' (1977), '' History of the World: Part I'' (1981), '' To Be or Not to Be'' (1983), and in a cameo in ''

Spaceballs ''Spaceballs'' is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It primarily parodies the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, but also other popular franchises such as ''Star Trek'', '' Alien'', '' The Wi ...

'' (1987). Riley often provided

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

s for television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for

Country Crock Country Crock is a food brand owned by Flora Food Group. It originally sold spreads such as margarine (and cheese for a limited time), but later extended to side dishes, particularly mashed potatoes and pasta, made by Hormel under license. Th ...

margarine. He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for

CompUSA CompUSA, Inc. was a retailer and reseller of Personal computer, personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one Brick and mortar, brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, ...

that aired in the 1990s. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Riley was known for voicing Stu Pickles (father of the main protagonist Tommy) in the animated series ''

''. The franchise consisted of the TV series, the spin-off '' All Grown Up!'' and the film trilogy. He continued to make guest appearances during the 1990s in popular sitcoms, showing up in episodes of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', '' Son of the Beach'', ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', '' Coach'', ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionaliz ...

'', ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from 197 ...

'', and, in a gag appearance, as an unnamed but obvious Mr. Carlin in a 1988 episode of ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, respe ...

''. He made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

on the November 23, 2013, episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', as a subway passenger during the sketch "Matchbox 3". That episode would be his final acting role.

Personal life and death

Riley married Ginger Lawrence on January 3, 1970 and they had two children. He died of pneumonia on August 19, 2016, at age 80.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Work as a writer

*''

The Don Rickles Show ''The Don Rickles Show'' is an American comedy television series. The series stars Don Rickles, Louise Sorel, Erin Moran, Robert Hogan, and Joyce Van Patten. The series aired on CBS from January 14 until May 26, 1972. It ranked 56th out of 78 ...

'' (1968, 1 episode) – Writer *''The Many Sides of Don Rickles'' (1970) – Writer *''The Addams Family Fun House'' (1973) – Writer

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Jack 1935 births American male film actors 20th-century American male actors American male television actors American male voice actors 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male video game actors John Carroll University alumni Male actors from Cleveland Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland) alumni Comedians from Cleveland 2016 deaths