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Peter Boyle
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Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Large, sad-eyed actor best known for his sharp and often endearing portrayals of eccentric characters. Once a monk in the Christian Brothers order, Boyle decided to pursue acting as his calling and moved to New York, where he studied with Uta Hagen, appeared offBroadway, did a tour of "The Odd Couple," and later worked in Chicago's Second City troupe. He made early film appearances in The Virgin President (1968), Medium Cool (1969), and Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), but it was his performance as the title hardhat bigot in the sleeper Joe (1970) that first brought him fame. He followed in a variety of different movies, including T.R. Baskin (1971), The Candidate (1972, as Robert Redford's mysterious campaign manager, Luke), Crazy Joe (in the title role, as racketeer Joey Gallo), The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Kid Blue, Slither and Steelyard Blues (all 1973, the last being one of his favorite roles as the nutty Eagle). He scored a comic bull's-eye as the misunderstood monster in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1974) and continued to win sizable supporting roles throughout the 1970s in Taxi Driver (1976), The Brink's Job, F.I.S.T (both 1978) and Hardcore (1979). He stole Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) from Bill Murray and had notable turns in Outland (1981) and Hammett (1982), but he seemed to drift into lackluster films that tarnished his reputation somewhat: Yellowbeard (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), Turk 182! (1985), Surrender (1987), Walker and Red Heat (both 1988). He had his best comic opportunity in years as an escaped mental patient in The Dream Team (1989) and has since appeared in Speed Zone (1989), Men of Respect (1990), Kickboxer II (1991), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Malcolm X (1992, a cameo), Born to Be Wild and Bulletproof Heart (both 1995). On TV, he won raves playing Senator Joseph McCarthy in Tail Gunner Joe (1977) and had his own short-lived series, "Joe Bash" (1986). |  |
