Robert Prosky
Birthday: Born in 1930-12-13 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Deathday: 2008-12-08
Robert Prosky (born Robert Joseph Porzuczek, December 13, 1930 – December 8, 2008) was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in Thief (1981), Christine (1983), The Natural (1984), and Broadcast News (1987). Prosky's other notable movies include Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Hoffa (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Last Action Hero (1993), Rudy (1993), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Dead Man Walking (1995), and Mad City (1997). His most notable television role was of Sgt. Stan Jablonski on the TV police drama Hill Street Blues.
TV Credits
Lou Grant
Character:
The trials of a former television station manager turned newspaper city editor, and his journalist staff....
Cheers
Character: Navy Captain Franklin Howe
The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there....
Veronica's Closet
Character: Pat Chase
Veronica 'Ronnie' Chase is the 'Queen of Romance.' Founder of a successful lingerie empire, and best-selling author of self-help romance books, Ronnie has it all ... money, success, sex appeal and a philandering husband. How she will find true happiness without jeopardizing her business will be her biggest challenge yet. ...
Once and Again
Character:
The series depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father....
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Character: Dr. Sutton A. Vogel
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986, and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated re-imagining of the classic 1955 series Alfred Hitchcock Presents....
LateLine
Character:
LateLine is an American TV sitcom that ran on NBC from March 17, 1998, through March 16, 1999. Due to an abrupt cancellation, there were seven unaired episodes. Created by John Markus and Al Franken, LateLine depicted the behind-the-scenes goings-on of a fictitious late-night television news broadcast, patterned in part after the long-running ABC program Nightline. Many plotlines in the series were satirical, dealing with topics like Deep Throat and the Watergate break-in, and the episodes ofte...
Frasier
Character: T.H. Houghton
After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty....
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Rosh Benefield
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, ...
ER
Character: Wayne Rutley
ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room....
Brooklyn Bridge
Character:
Brooklyn Bridge is an American television program which aired on CBS between 1991 and 1993. It is about a Jewish American family living in Brooklyn in the middle 1950s. The premise was partially based on the childhood of executive producer and creator Gary David Goldberg. Brooklyn Bridge won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy Award as for outstanding television series in 1992, after its first season. The cast was led by Marion Ross; Art Garfunkel performed the theme song, which was t...
K Street
Character: Tommy's Dad
An experimental fusion of reality and fiction--a fly-on-the-wall look at government, filmed in and around the corridors of power in Washington. The series ventures inside the world of powerful political consultants--a world that few people ever experience first-hand. Produced on location in Washington, D.C., the largely improvised ten-episode series combines fictional characters with appearances by real-life political figures, all centered around the biggest political news of the week....
Tony Awards
Character: Self - Nominee & Performer
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre....
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
Character: Edmund Bacon (voice)
One of America's most complex and enduring figures, Thomas Jefferson struggled personally and publicly with an issue that would come to define our nation. Examining the possible relationship between Jefferson and Monticello slave Sally Hemings, the program includes comments from such noted historians as Pulitzer Prize-winner Gordon Wood, former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, noted Jefferson biographer Merrill Peterson, and others. Featuring the voices of Edward Herrmann, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glove...
The Practice
Character: Father Patrick Martin
A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”...
Hill Street Blues
Character: Stan Jablonski
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station....
Murder, She Wrote
Character: Bishop Patrick Shea
An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases....
The Murder of Mary Phagan
Character: Tom Watson
In early-twentieth-century Atlanta, the murder of a young girl prompts strong reactions from the community and ultimately leads to the arrest of a man who could actually be innocent....
World War III
Character: Gen. Aleksey Rudenski
When starving mobs begin rioting in the streets of Moscow, Soviet leaders believe they have no recourse but to seize the Alaskan pipeline to force the United States to end the grain embargo that has brought turmoil to the U.S.S.R....
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Hoke
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, ...
Touched by an Angel
Character: Dr. Robert Harrigan
Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives....
Coach
Character: Coach 'Jake the Snake' Connelly
Hayden Fox, the curmudgeonly coach of Minnesota State University's Screaming Eagles football team, tries to navigate his way through the sports world, fatherhood and family life without dropping the ball....
Beacon Hill
Character: McLeague
Short lived soap opera about rich family and their servants in 1920s Boston....
Movie Credits
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Character: Grandpa Fred
Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!...
Dead Man Walking
Character: Hilton Barber
A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple....
Mrs. Doubtfire
Character: Mr. Lundy
Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start....
The Great Outdoors
Character: Wally
It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family....
Outrageous Fortune
Character: Stanislav Korzenowski
Refined actress Lauren Ames finally has a chance to study with the great theatre professor Stanislav Korzenowski. Sandy Brozinsky, a brash, loud actress, decides through happenstance to also study with Korzenowski. The two women end up dating the same man (who turns out to be a double agent) and follow him across the country to force him to choose between them....
Thief
Character: Leo Alderman
Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score....
Far and Away
Character: Daniel Christie
A young couple escapes Ireland, dreaming of a new life during the land giveaway in Oklahoma. As they struggle to survive against betrayal and harsh winter conditions, they must fend off her parents who are determined to bring her back home....
The Natural
Character: The Judge
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league....
The Chamber
Character: E. Garner Goodman
Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met....
Loose Cannons
Character: Von Metz
Mac, the two-fisted, savvy cop finds that he's being saddled with a new partner, a known burnout, to work with him on a new and difficult case. The new partner is Ellis, an amazing detective, one who puts Sherlock Holmes to shame with his lightning-fast deductions. But he keeps assuming the personalities of entire casts of Television shows. This can be a problem when people begin shooting at them....
Christine
Character: Will Darnell
Nerdy high schooler Arnie Cunningham falls for Christine, a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury, and becomes obsessed with restoring the classic automobile to her former glory. As the car changes, so does Arnie, whose newfound confidence turns to arrogance behind the wheel of his exotic beauty. Arnie's girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis reach out to him, only to be met by a Fury like no other....
Broadcast News
Character: Ernie Merriman
Basket-case network news producer Jane Craig falls for new reporter Tom Grunnick, a pretty boy who represents the trend towards entertainment news she despises. Aaron Altman, a talented but plain correspondent, carries an unrequited torch for Jane. Sparks fly between the three as the network prepares for big changes, and both the news and Jane must decide between style and substance....
Mad City
Character: Lou Potts
A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad....
The Keep
Character: Father Mihail Fonescu
Set during World War II, a German army garrison is sent to guard a mountain pass in a village in Romania's Carpathian mountains and sets up barracks in an ancient stone fortress. Two of the soldiers unwittingly release a mysterious entity that kills or corrupts those within its influence, drawing the attention of a Gestapo commander, a Jewish scholar and a mysterious traveller....
Funny About Love
Character: E. T.
As political cartoonist Duffy and his bride Meg fail to conceive, he and sorority girl Daphne succeed....
Dudley Do-Right
Character: Inspector Fenwick
Royal Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-right is busy keeping the peace in his small mountain town when his old rival, Snidely Whiplash, comes up with a plot to buy all the property in town, then start a phony gold rush by seeding the river with gold nuggets....
The Lords of Discipline
Character: Col. 'Bear' Berrineau
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so....
Things Change
Character: Joseph 'Don Giuseppe' Vincenzo
Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!...
Big Shots
Character: Keegan
Following the death of his father, a suburbanite runs away from home and winds up on Chicago's South Side. After being mugged, the boy befriends a young hustler and, after stealing a gangster's car, the two embark on an adventure down south in search of the hustler's estranged father....
The Love She Sought
Character: Bishop Richard Baker
An aging school teacher (Lansbury) at a Catholic grammar school in Minnesota questions her life's existence when she has to start battling a new bishop (Prosky). As a result she retires and moves to Ireland where she seeks an admirer (Elliott) with whom she has been corresponding for five years....
Suits on the Loose
Character: Bishop Hollister
Suits on the Loose is the story of two rebellious teens, Justin and Ty, and their breakout from a desert survival camp. When two naive Mormon missionaries, Elder Talbot and Elder Johnson, run into a restroom at a remote rest stop, Justin steals their car. Scrapping their military fatigues for the conservative missionaries' tags in hopes of passing through any road blocks, their guise is so good that the police insist upon escorting the escapees directly to New Harmony, the town that's been anxio...
Monsignor
Character: Bishop Walkman
The vows of an ambitious young American priest are tested during World War II. Not only does Father John Flaherty get involved with the black market to raise money for the Vatican, he also falls in love with a young French nun....
Washington Monuments
Character: Narrator
Washington Monuments captures the beauty and history of the Capital's major landmarks in a presentation that is informative, picturesque and entertaining....
Age Isn't Everything
Character: Grandpa Irving
Young man gives up his dream of becoming an astronaut to go into business — and finds himself turned into a little old man....
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Character: Self
A celebration of NBC's 75 year history, featuring clips of special moments....
Swing Vote
Character: Chief Justice
A newly-appointed Supreme Court Justice must settle a controversial moral and legal dilemma with his tie-breaking decision which may also have serious implications on his own family's harmony....
Johnny Ryan
Character: Capt. Fitzgerald
An honest, hard-working cop has to go up against the mob in 1949 New York City....
The Lake
Character: Herb
Jackie Ivers is a Los Angeles nurse who returns home to the small town of San Vicente to find that her friends and family have taken on bizarrely different personalities. Jackie notices that everyone who goes into the town's lake come out different......
Dangerous Pursuit
Character: Bill
A young woman's past catches up with her five years later and nearly shatters her life. As a footloose cocktail waitress, she unwittingly once spent the night in Manhattan with a political assassin and now, as a happily married cop's wife, has the misfortune of running into him after all this time in Portland, Oregon -- and the pursuit begins....
From the Dead of Night
Character: Dr. Walter Hovde
After having a near death experience Joanna finds her life in constant danger. She begins to believe that certain forces are trying to bring her back into the world of the dead. Her boyfriend Glen thinks she's crazy so Joanna turns to her ex-boyfriend, Peter. It just so happens that Peter is a strong believer in the supernatural and even teaches a course on it at a local college. Together they must confront the "walkers" so that Joanna can live to see another day....
The Scarlet Letter
Character: Horace Stonehall
Set in puritanical Boston in the mid 1600s, the story of seamstress Hester Prynne, who is outcast after she becomes pregnant by a respected reverend. She refuses to divulge the name of the father, is "convicted" of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet "A" until an Indian attack unites the Puritans and leads to a reevaluation of their laws and morals....
Green Card
Character: Brontë's Lawyer
Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves....
Hoffa
Character: Billy Flynn
A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt....
The Valley of Light
Character: Hoke
The Valley of Light is a beautifully-filmed, sentimental movie of a young man's quest to make sense of his experiences and find new meaning in life. While this film deals with weighty material such as the suicide of Eleanor's husband and Mathew's untimely death, the content is handled with reverence and sensitivity. Parents can feel confident in sharing this and many other Hallmark films with their families....
Hanky Panky
Character: Hiram Calder
Naïve Michael Jordon is drawn into a web of government secrets when a girl carrying a mysterious package gets into a taxi with him. When she's later murdered, Michael becomes the chief suspect and goes on the run....
The Ordeal of Bill Carney
Character: Judge Philip Erbsen
Bill Carney has just been paralyzed from the neck down. He has been taking care of his two sons since his wife left him. Now, when word of his condition reaches her, she wants to take them away, as she feels that he is unable to care for them. And it appears that the courts agree too. So, his lawyer, also a paraplegic, begins the campaign to take his case before the Supreme Court. Will he win?...
Rudy
Character: Father Cavanaugh
Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team....
Home Fires Burning
Character: Rosh Benefield
When a WW2 veteran comes back home, he realizes how the war affected Americans by seeing the changes in his wife, family, and best friend....
D-Tox
Character: McKenzie
A disgraced FBI agent with a drinking problem joins nine other troubled law enforcement officers at an isolated detox clinic in the wilds of Wyoming. But the therapeutic sanctuary becomes a nightmarish hellhole when a major snowstorm cuts off the clinic from the outside world and enables a killer on the inside to get busy....
Last Action Hero
Character: Nick
After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible cop. Given a magic ticket by a theater manager, he is transported into the film and teams up with the cop to stop a villain who escapes into the real world....
Into Thin Air
Character: Jim Conway
Ellen Burstyn stars as Joan Walker, a mother whose college student son vanishes while traveling from Canada to Colorado. When police fail to investigate, Walker takes matters into her own hands. She and her ex-husband begin a search, but when their son's van is found in Maine brandishing stolen plates, they fear the worst. Now, it's up to a private detective to uncover the chilling truth in this absorbing drama based on a true story....
The Skeptic
Character: Father Wymond
After the mysterious death of his Aunt, a confirmed skeptic lawyer, Bryan Becket, dismisses reports that her house is haunted and moves in. Immediately occurrences begin he cannot explain. And beyond the occurrences there is something about the house which gnaws at Becket - some strange connection he senses he has with the house's past. Soon, the haunting turns personal....
The Heist
Character: Dancer
Ex-con Neal Skinner seeks revenge against track owner Ebbet Berens for framing him in an emerald smuggling deal....
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Character: Andrey Botvinnik (segment "A Walk in the Woods")
The Great White Way comes into your living room via this disc of rare performances from some of Broadway's brightest luminaries. Culled from clips from the Tony Awards shows, this unique collection features acting powerhouses James Earl Jones, Annette Bening, Joan Allen, Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise and Maggie Smith, among others, performing works by such playwrights as August Wilson, David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein and more....
A Walk in the Woods
Character: Andrey Botvinnik
A true story about one US and one USSR delegate who, during 1982 talks in Geneva between USA and USSR on limiting medium-range nukes in Europe, met by accident in a nearby forest while on a stroll and informally started a key discussion....
Double Edge
Character: Maggie's Father
In this fast paced action-thriller, daytime's top star Susan Lucci plays two roles: both a crack FBI agent and the elusive killer-for-hire who she stalks in a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Each driven by an obsession to succeed, the perfectly matched competitors hurtle full-speed through a risky game od double-cross to an unexpected and deadly finish line....
Zalmen, or The Madness of God
Character: The Chairman
This play takes place during Yom Kippur in a post-Stalinist Russian synagogue, where a Rabbi waits for a Western acting troupe and gets extremely angry about the repression of Jews in the Soviet Union....
Death to Smoochy
Character: Network Chairman (uncredited)
Tells the story of Rainbow Randolph, the corrupt, costumed star of a popular children's TV show, who is fired over a bribery scandal and replaced by squeaky-clean Smoochy, a puffy fuchsia rhinoceros. As Smoochy catapults to fame - scoring hit ratings and the affections of a network executive - Randolph makes the unsuspecting rhino the target of his numerous outrageous attempts to exact revenge and reclaim his status as America's sweetheart....
The Brink's Job
Character: Lineup Gallery Cop
In 1950, a group of unlikely criminal masterminds commits the robbery of the century. Led by Tony Pino, a petty thief fresh out of prison, and Joe McGinnis, who specializes in planning lucrative capers, the gang robs Brink's main office in Boston of more than $2 million. However, things begin to go awry when the FBI gets involved, the cops start cracking down on the gang and McGinnis refuses to hand over the loot......
Miracle on 34th Street
Character: Judge Henry Harper
Six-year-old Susan Walker has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle—Santa Claus. Her mother told her the secret about Santa a long time ago, but, after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all—something to believe in....
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
Character: Maishe
For a generation, the mobs main money machine was the Teamsters Union. When Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, the fight was on to see who could follow him. Jackie Presser was the son of a long time union board member and when he retired, Jackie was elevated to one of the most powerful position in the country; President of the Teamsters Union....