John Albert Riley Jr December 30 1935 August 19 2016 was an American actor comedian and writer He was known for playing Elliot Carlin a chronic psychology client of the main character on The Bob Newhart Show and for voicing Stu Pickles one of the parents in the animated Rugrats franchise Riley was born in Cleveland Ohio the son of Agnes C Riley née Corrigan and John Albert Riley After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University he served in the US Army After being discharged Riley became a popular radio personality in Cleveland along with his radio partner and straight man Jeff Baxter The Baxter Riley Show on WERE 1300 AM featured not only music but comedy sketches and a slew of offbeat characters that Riley and Baxter voiced Riley gave up the radio show in the mid1960s and moved to Los Angeles where his Cleveland friend Tim Conway helped him obtain work writing comedy sketches which later led to acting opportunities First a semiregular in the cast of the 1960s sitcom Occasional Wife a shortlived show on NBC in which he played Wally Frick Riley was perhaps most famous for playing Elliot Carlin the neurotic sour and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show 19721978 In 1973 he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family FunHouse then in 1979 he starred in ABCs holiday telefilm The Halloween That Almost Wasnt aka The Night Dracula Saved The World as Warren the Werewolf Wolf Man of Budapest Riley then in 1980 appeared in a comedy special for HBO called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter He was a regular cast member in The Tim Conway Show a comedyvariety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through late summer 1981 acting in sketch comedy in each episode In 1985 he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St Elsewhere and did so again in a 1987 episode of ALF Among his other TV credits are multiple appearances on such shows as Rowan Martins LaughIn parodying Lyndon Johnson MASH Barney Miller Hogans Heroes The Mary Tyler Moore Show One Day at a Time Gomer Pyle Diffrent Strokes and Night Court He was also a favorite of Mel Brooks appearing in several of his films High Anxiety 1977 History of the World Part I 1981 To Be or Not to Be 1983 and cameo only Spaceballs 1987 Riley often provided voiceovers for television and radio commercials most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine He also voiced the character PC Modem the computer genius in radio commercials for CompUSA that aired in the 1990s In the 1990s and early 2000s Riley was known for voicing Stu Pickles father of the main protagonist Tommy in the animated series Rugrats The franchise consisted of the TV series the spinoff All Grown Up and the film trilogy He continued to make guest appearances during the 1990s in popular sitcoms showing up in episodes of Seinfeld Son of the Beach Friends Coach The Drew Carey Show That 70s Show and in a gag appearance as an unnamed but obvious Mr Carlin in a 1988 episode of Newhart He made a cameo appearance on the November 23 2013 episode of Saturday Night Live as a subway passenger during the sketch Matchbox 3 That episode would be his final acting role
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