Larry Hankin

Larry Michael Hankin is an American character actor, performer, director, comedian and producer. He is known for his major film roles as Charley Butts in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Ace in Running Scared (1986), and Carl Alphonse in Billy Madison (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobie in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Sergeant Larry Balzak in Home Alone, Mr. Heckles in Friends and Joe in Breaking Bad.[1]

Larry Hankin
Born
Larry Michael Hankin

Occupation
  • Actor
  • director
  • producer
  • comedian
  • artist
  • author
Years active1963–present
Height6' 4"
Websitethereallarryhankin.com

Early life and Career

Hankin was born to a Jewish family in Queens. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School and Syracuse University. He was homeless at one point.[2]

Notable film and television roles

His first notable supporting role was as Pt. Romero in Viva Max! in 1969.[3]

Hankin is known for his roles in TV shows Breaking Bad, Matlock, Friends (as Mr. Heckles) and Seinfeld (as Tom Pepper), as well as for his major role in Escape from Alcatraz (1979) with Clint Eastwood.[1] He also acted in How Sweet It Is! (1968) with Debbie Reynolds and James Garner and the Adam Sandler movie Billy Madison (1995). He had cameo appearances in three John Hughes films, Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987); She's Having a Baby (1988); and Home Alone (1990); which coincidentally featured Roberts Blossom (playing Old Man Marley), whom he co-starred with in Escape from Alcatraz. He had brief appearances in Pretty Woman as the landlord (1990), as well as minor roles in Loose Shoes (1980), The Sure Thing (1985), and Running Scared (1986). Hankin also appeared in Married... with Children, as well as one of the Halloween specials of Home Improvement. Hankin also appeared in three episodes of Star Trek: Voyager as Gaunt Gary and one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hankin and Curtis Armstrong played the hippie entrepreneurs who purchased "Buy the Book" (the bookstore where the titular character works at) on Ellen.

On Seinfeld, Hankin portrayed Tom Pepper, the actor cast as Kramer on the pilot-within-a-TV-show Jerry. He portrayed a homeless man in season 5 of Malcolm in the Middle. He then appeared again with Bryan Cranston in seasons three and five of Breaking Bad as junkyard owner Old Joe. He reprised his old role from Breaking Bad in the Netflix sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

Other work

One of Hankin's earliest roles was playing the lead character of Farley in the 1964 educational film Too Tough to Care.

In 1977, Hankin appeared in the episode "The Bums vs. the Reds" of the situation comedy The San Pedro Beach Bums. He also played Mickey the Bartender in a WKRP in Cincinnati episode called "Hotel Oceanview" that also has a cameo appearance by Dr. Joyce Brothers as "Vicky Von Vicky".

In 1982, he played the dog catcher that tries to take Sandy in Annie.

In 1980, Hankin's short film Solly's Diner earned him and the film's producers a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Hankin was a founding member of the commedia dell'arte improvisation group The Committee in 1963, located at an indoor bocce ball court in San Francisco's North Beach district.

He appeared in the Janet Jackson music video for her 1986 hit single "What Have You Done for Me Lately" as a cook/waiter.

He recently portrayed a depressed Chechen hitman in the HBO series Barry in 2018.

In 2021, he appeared in Friends: The Reunion.

Other interests

He has been doing work with the online comedy group "Magic Hugs", and has appeared in a number of their sketches, as well as the series Baby Mentalist for Channel 101.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1964 Too Tough To Care Farley
1967 Funnyman Roger
1968 Yours Mine and Ours Grocery Clerk
1968 How Sweet It Is! 1st Policeman
1969 Viva Max! P.t. Romero
1979 Escape From Alcatraz Charley Butts
1980 Loose Shoes 2nd Veteran
1980 Solly’s Dinner Sometimes Jones Short film. Also Writer and Producer. Academy Award winner for best Live-Action Short Film.
1982 Annie Pound Man
1983 The Star Chamber Det. Kenneth Wiggan
1985 The Sure Thing Trucker
1986 Ratboy Robert Jewell
1986 Running Scared Ace
1986 Armed and Dangerous Kokolovitch
1987 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Doobie
1988 She’s Having A Baby Hank
1990 Home Alone Sgt. Larry Balzak
1990 Pretty Woman The Landlord
1990 Death Warrant Mayerson
1991 Black Magic Woman Hank Watfield
1992 T Bone N Weasel Rev. Gluck Television Film
1994 The Shadow Taxi Driver
1995 Billy Madison Carl Alphonse
1997 Money Talks Roland
2003 Nobody Knows Anything! Blind Man
2013 Pain & Gain Pastor Randy
2015 The Parting Shot Aaron Short Film. Nominated: LAIFF April Award for best Actor in a lead role.
2019 El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Old Joe
2021 Bengal Hank Short Film.
2021 The Eden Theory Farmer Joe
2021 Friends: The Reunion Himself/Mr. Heckles Television Reunion Special

T.V. series

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Seinfeld Tom Pepper (Kramer) Episode: ‘The Pilot’
1994-1996 Friends Mr. Heckles 5 Episodes
2006 My Name is Earl Tom Sparks Episode: "Van Hickey"
2010-2012 Breaking Bad Old Joe 2 Episodes
2018 Barry Stovka Episode: ‘Chapter Three: Make the Unsafe Choice

References

  1. Hal Erickson (2016). "Larry Hankin". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  2. https://darkhorseschooling.com/ep-201-larry-hankin-find-your-audience/
  3. "Viva Max (1969)". IMDb.
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