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Robert Wuhl

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Robert Wuhl
Wuhl in 1998
Born (1951-10-09) October 9, 1951 (age 73)
Union, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationUnion High School
Alma materUniversity of Houston
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
Years active1980–present
Spouse
Barbara Koldys Capelli
​
​
(m. 1983)​

Robert Wuhl (born October 9, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and writer.[1] He is best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series Arliss (1996–2002)[2][3] and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Larry in Bull Durham (1988).

Early life

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Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey, to a Jewish family.[4][5] His father worked as a produce distributor.[6] After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston,[2] where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Wuhl was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater in April 2012.[citation needed]

Career

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Wuhl's first role in movies was a starring role in the 1980 comedy The Hollywood Knights along with other fledgling actors Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Fran Drescher, followed by a small role in the film Flashdance (1983). Wuhl had larger roles in films including Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) with Robin Williams,[7] Bull Durham (1988) with Kevin Costner,[2][3] Tim Burton's 1989 Batman (as reporter Alexander Knox) with Michael Keaton,[2][4] Blaze (1989) with Paul Newman,[4] Missing Pieces (1991) with Eric Idle, Mistress (1992) with Robert De Niro, Blue Chips (1994) with Nick Nolte, and Cobb (1994) with Tommy Lee Jones.[8][9] He wrote two of the six episodes for the TV series Police Squad! in 1982 and did an audio commentary for its release on DVD in 2006.

He and Keith Carradine appeared in the 1985 music video to Madonna's "Material Girl". In 1992, he appeared in The Bodyguard as host of the Oscars.

Wuhl won two Emmy Awards for co-writing the Academy Awards in 1990 and 1991 with Billy Crystal, Bruce Vilanch, David Steinberg, and others.[10]

From 1996 to 2002 he wrote and starred in the HBO series Arliss as the title character, an agent for high-profile athletes.[11]

From 2000 to 2001, he was a frequent panelist on the ESPN game show 2 Minute Drill, often quizzing the contestants on sports-related movies.

In 2006, he starred on HBO in a one-man-show, Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl,[2] where he taught a history class to show how history is created and propagated in a similar fashion to pop culture. A second chapter entitled Assume the Position 201 with Mr. Wuhl aired on HBO in July 2007.

Wuhl hosted a sports, sports business and entertainment daily talk radio show,[12] for Westwood One (now Dial Global) from January through December 2011. Wuhl occasionally fills in for Boomer Esiason on the Boomer and Carton show.

Wuhl played "Herb Tucker" in a revival of Neil Simon's play I Ought to Be in Pictures.[1] In 2017, he appeared with Don Most in another Simon play, The Sunshine Boys, at Judson Theatre Company. [13]

Wuhl has appeared as himself in four episodes of American Dad!: the 2015 episode "Manhattan Magical Murder Mystery Tour", the 2017 episode "The Talented Mr. Dingleberry", the 2019 episode "One-Woman Swole", and the 2021 episode "Cry Baby".[14]

Personal life

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Wuhl married actress Barbara Koldys in 1983.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1980 The Hollywood Knights Newbomb Turk
1983 Flashdance Mawby's Regular
1987 Good Morning, Vietnam Marty Lee Dreiwitz
1988 Bull Durham Larry Hockett
1989 Batman Alexander Knox
Wedding Band Waiter
Blaze Red Snyder
1991 Missing Pieces Lou Wimpole
1992 Mistress Marvin Landisman
The Bodyguard Oscar Host
1993 Sandman Victor Giles
1994 Blue Chips Marty
Cobb Al Stump
1995 Open Season Stuart Sain
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Man with Lighter
1997 Good Burger Angry Customer
1998 Welcome to Hollywood Himself
2013 Contest Zack Conti
2020 Shirley Randy Fisher
2022 The People's Joker Himself
2024 Saturday Night Dave Wilson

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987 Moonlighting Nut in Holding Cell Episode: "Blonde on Blonde"
Falcon Crest Stand-up Comic Episode: "Topspin"
L.A. Law Crutchfeld Episode: "Pigmalion"
1988 CBS Summer Playhouse Sid Barrows Episode: "Sniff"
1989 Tales from the Crypt Barker Episode: "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone"
Not Necessarily the News Commentator Episode #7.9
1993 Percy & Thunder Jim Keisling Television film
1996–2002 Arliss Arliss Michaels 80 episodes
1997 The Last Don Bobby Bantz 2 episodes
1998 The Last Don II Bobby Bantz 2 episodes
2006–2007 Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Himself 2 episodes
2007 Everybody Hates Chris Abe Himmelfarb Episode: "Everybody Hates DJs"
Boston Legal Bob Binder Episode: "Oral Contracts"
2012–2013 Franklin & Bash Hon. Maxwell Nulis 2 episodes
2015–2023 American Dad! Himself 5 episodes
2016 Blue Bloods Captain Ward Gibson Episode: "Whistleblowers"
2019 Supergirl Alexander Knox Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One"
2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride The Grandfather Episode: "Chapter Eight: Ultimate Suffering"
2020–2021 The George Lucas Talk Show Himself 12 episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b Brandes, Philip (October 24, 2012). "Review: 'I Ought to Be in Pictures' steeped in sentimentality". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sandomir, Richard (April 1, 2006). "Robert Wuhl Is a Teacher on HBO's 'Assume the Position With Mr. Wuhl'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Wuhl: Anything goes". Go.com. Disney Interactive. April 22, 1999. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Lloyd, Jack (August 11, 1989). "Rising Star Robert Wuhl Is Having Fun". Philly.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  5. ^ Samberg, Joel (1998). The Jewish Book of Lists. Carol Publishing Group. p. 99. ISBN 9780806520346. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  6. ^ "Robert Wuhl Biography (1951–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. ^ Hinson, Hal (January 15, 1988). "Good Morning, Vietnam". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. ^ Turan, Kenneth (December 2, 1994). "MOVIE REVIEWS : 'Cobb': What Becomes a Legend Least? : Shelton's Latest Film Shows Bad and Ugly of Baseball Star". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  9. ^ Barra, Allen (October 9, 2001). "Clemens: The Greatest of All Time". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  10. ^ "Robert Wuhl - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins".
  11. ^ Nocera, Joe (March 12, 2012). "The Case for Agents". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Smith, Christopher (May 20, 2011). "'Juan and John' opening crowd includes John Roseboro's widow". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  13. ^ "Carolina Conversations with Judson Theatre's "the Sunshine Boys" Actors Don Most and Robert Wuhl". October 12, 2017.
  14. ^ "Robert Wuhl joins NEComicCon November 26-28 2021". November 5, 2021.
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