Marcus Frank Harelik (born June 5, 1951) is an American television, film, and stage actor, and playwright.

Early life

Harelik was born in

Hamilton, Texas Hamilton is a city in and the county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hung ...

. In 1909, Harelik's

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

grandfather, Haskell Harelik—upon whom Harelik's 1985 play, ''The Immigrant'', is based—immigrated to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

Career

In 1987, he moved to Los Angeles where he co-wrote, with Randal Myler, '' Hank Williams: Lost Highway''. In 1990, he worked in the

Howard Korder Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play ''Boys' Life'', which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play ''Search and Destroy'' was adapted into a film in 1995. ...

play ''Search and Destroy'' and the William Ball play ''Cherry Orchard''. Harelik has appeared in the films ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

'', ''

Jurassic Park III ''Jurassic Park III'' is a 2001 American Science fiction film, science fiction adventure film, adventure action film directed by Joe Johnston and written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor (writer), Jim Taylor. It is the third ...

'', ''

Eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

'', '' For Your Consideration'', and '' 42.'' For animation; he was the voice of Queen Uberta’s

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, ''valet de chambre'' was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "va ...

, Lord Rogers, in '' The Swan Princess.'' Harelik has played parts on the television series ''

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 ...

'', ''

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

'', '' Wings'', ''

Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. Created by Chuck Lorre, the series starred Brett Butler as Grace Kelly, a single mother and recovering alcoholic raising t ...

'', ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...

'', ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews ( Ben Savage) and his friends and f ...

'', ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'', ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'', '' Six Feet Under'' and five episodes of the first season of ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'' as Dr. Eric Gablehauser. He also played Sara Tancredi's lawyer in ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

''. He appeared on the series finale of ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'', in a 2002 episode of

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

's ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'' as Count Kurushu, and "

Counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

" an episode of '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also appeared in five episodes of short-lived NBC series ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

''. In 2015, he appeared under his own name as an actor hired by the

Heavenly host The Heavenly host ( ''ṣəḇāʾōṯ'', "armies") refers to the army (or host) of God, as mentioned in Abrahamic texts; the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran in particular. The Bible typically describes the Heavenly host as being m ...

to play

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

then later as God himself in the TV series ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

''. Harelik appeared in the Broadway musical '' The Light in the Piazza''. Harelik's play, ''The Immigrant'', has been well-received, and was adapted into a musical of the same name. In 1997, he released a sequel, ''The Legacy'', changing it from a true story to fiction. He has appeared in several other plays including ''Temptation'' (1989), ''The Heidi Chronicles'' (1991), ''Elmer Gantry'' (1991), ''Tartuffe'' (1999), ''Old Money'' (2000), ''The Hollow Lands'' (2000), ''Be Aggressive'', ''The Beard of Avon'' (2001), ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' (2004). Harelik also played Dr. Paul Stickley in HBO's series '' Getting On'', an American adaptation of the British sitcom of the same name. In 2015, Harelik co-starred as Jamie Thompson's father in '' This Isn't Funny'', and in 2017, he played baseball player

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), p ...

in the film '' Battle of the Sexes''. In 2024, he was cast as '' Dr. Hiruluk'' from ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

''.

Personal life

He is married to actress Spencer Kayden, who has acted in theatre productions alongside him. They have one child.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

* 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical — ''The Immigrant'' (nominee) * 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical — '' Hank Williams: Lost Highway'' (nominee) *2011 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow at Ten Chimneys Foundation

Publications

*''The Immigrant'' *''The Legacy''''The Legacy''
samuelfrench.com,

References

External links

* *
Mark Harelik
at the Lortel Archives
Mark Harelik
at the BroadwayWorld.com Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Harelik, Mark 1951 births Male actors from Texas American male film actors American male stage actors American people of Russian-Jewish descent American male television actors People from Hamilton, Texas Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights Writers from Texas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers