Joshua Mostel (born December 21, 1946) is an American actor with numerous film and Broadway credits. The son of Zero Mostel, he is best known for his supporting roles in films such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), '' Harry and Tonto'' (1974), '' Sophie's Choice'' (1982), '' City Slickers'' (1991), '' Billy Madison'' (1995), and '' Big Daddy'' (1999).

Life and career

Mostel was born in New York City, the son of Kathryn Celia, née Harkin, an actress, dancer, and writer, and Zero Mostel, a comic actor. Tobias Mostel, his brother, is a painter, ceramic artist and professor of art, teaching at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and Tallahassee Community College. Mostel started his career as a

boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with a voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) no m ...

at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York. He graduated from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. His Broadway debut was in 1971 with '' Unlikely Heroes''. In 1973, Mostel had one of his more notable film performances as Herod in '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. In 1979, Mostel briefly starred in '' Delta House'', the television version of the film ''

Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller (writer), Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Tom ...

''; he played Blotto Blutarsky, the brother of the character Bluto (played by John Belushi in the original film). On Broadway, he appeared in the 1989 revival of ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'' as Money Matthew and as the frazzled head writer in the original 1992 production of '' My Favorite Year''. He also played the part of "the best trader on the street", Ollie, one of Gordon Gekko's traders in ''

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

''. Mostel lives in New York, with a summer home on Monhegan Island.

Filmography

Film

Television

Broadway productions

References

External links