Bob Balaban Biography

Fast Facts

• Paternal grandparents were Russian immigrants who owned a grocery store in Chicago
• Comes from a family of cinema magnates who---with Morris and Sam Katz---formed Balaban & Katz, which owned more than 100 theaters in the Midwest
• His uncle Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures from 1936-64
• Grandfather Sam Katz, who was head of production at MGM, was first married to Bob's paternal aunt Ida and then, after her death, to Bob's maternal grandmother, Belle
• Studied with the Second City Comedy Troupe at age 16 and made his stage debut with them
• As a college junior, won the role of Linus in the original off-Broadway production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
• As a senior, he was cast in Plaza Suite on Broadway; had to postpone graduation because he kept getting acting jobs
• Film debut was in 1969's Midnight Cowboy
• Wrote Spielberg, Truffaut and Me, a diary about his experiences filming Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Authored children's books featuring a bionic dog named McGrowl
• Pitched idea for 2001's Gosford Park to friend Robert Altman, who directed the Emmy-nominated murder mystery; Balaban also acted in and produced the film