Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...

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 compositio ...

. He performed on the Mickey Mouse Club as a plate spinner and juggler.

Career

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

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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-conscio ...

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 s ...

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 ''Bottle Rocket'' is a 1996 American crime comedy film directed by Wes Anderson in his feature film directorial debut. The film is written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. ''Bottle Rocket' ...

'', '' Rushmore'', '' The Royal Tenenbaums'' 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 Owe ...

''. Pallana also appeared in the Bollywood movie '' Anjaana Anjaani '' (2010) and the acclaimed independent film '' Another Earth'' (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, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

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. Kenne ...

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

'', '' Rushmore'' and '' The Royal Tenenbaums''.

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