"You's fancy pants, all o' yuz."
September 2, 2016 12:16 PM Subscribe
Prolific actor Jon Polito, who worked with the Coen Brothers many times and will be forever known to film geeks as Johnny Caspar, has passed away at the age of 65.
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posted by Token Meme at 12:21 PM on September 2, 2016
posted by Token Meme at 12:21 PM on September 2, 2016
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posted by Dressed to Kill at 12:22 PM on September 2, 2016
posted by Dressed to Kill at 12:22 PM on September 2, 2016
I’d never give him the high hat.
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posted by Going To Maine at 12:24 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
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posted by Going To Maine at 12:24 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
He will forever be in my heart if only for the line, "Whaddya mean he's eatin too much? Whassa goddamn doctor know?"
Almost every time in my life I'm confronted with "the doctor says [x]" I think "whassa goddamn doctor know?
... what you eat for lunch?
a hot dog with mustard."
I don't say these things out loud because if I do I'll be past "You hear that, Dane? My kid's smart as a whip!" before anyone can stop me.
Miller's Crossing is my favorite movie and in a film full of bright stars he was possibly the brightest.
posted by komara at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
Almost every time in my life I'm confronted with "the doctor says [x]" I think "whassa goddamn doctor know?
... what you eat for lunch?
a hot dog with mustard."
I don't say these things out loud because if I do I'll be past "You hear that, Dane? My kid's smart as a whip!" before anyone can stop me.
Miller's Crossing is my favorite movie and in a film full of bright stars he was possibly the brightest.
posted by komara at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
"Let me tell ya something - I dig your work. Playing one side against the other, in bed with everybody - just fabulous stuff."
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posted by bluecore at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2016 [9 favorites]
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posted by bluecore at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2016 [9 favorites]
Let us mourn the passing of a brother shamus.
(The Irish monk?)
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posted by dannyboybell at 12:32 PM on September 2, 2016 [10 favorites]
(The Irish monk?)
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posted by dannyboybell at 12:32 PM on September 2, 2016 [10 favorites]
Two friends and I made it our mission to watch the entire Atlas Shrugged trilogy in theaters, and Polito's sleazy, gravelly appearance in them was one of the few positive things about that experience.
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posted by rorgy at 12:35 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
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posted by rorgy at 12:35 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
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please let that be everyone from The Big Lebowski's cast for this year...
posted by bigendian at 12:46 PM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
please let that be everyone from The Big Lebowski's cast for this year...
posted by bigendian at 12:46 PM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
His turn in The Man Who Wasn't There is fantastic. A tour de force. He was a marvelous actor.
He was in CHUD, for some reason. That film is jammed full of great character actors.
I love CHUD.
RIP.
posted by maxsparber at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
He was in CHUD, for some reason. That film is jammed full of great character actors.
I love CHUD.
RIP.
posted by maxsparber at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
Loved him anytime he showed up my screen, but I will always think of him as Det. Steve Crosetti.
posted by nubs at 1:09 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by nubs at 1:09 PM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]
Ah...he was a fabulous character actor. His raspy voice and rubbery face always drew audiences into, no matter how skeevy his characters were.
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posted by but no cigar at 1:18 PM on September 2, 2016
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posted by but no cigar at 1:18 PM on September 2, 2016
The first thing I distinctly remember seeing him in was The Crow, as the shitheel pawn shop owner; it wasn't a big part or really a particularly good one, but he was totally the guy to do it the way the movie wanted it done. Seeing him in other stuff after that, Coen and otherwise, always took me back to that particular cinematic moment in my youth, which is maybe not precisely fair to Polito but it's a genuine sense of nostalgia and affection regardless.
posted by cortex at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by cortex at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
Every Coen Bros movie he was in would have been a lesser movie without him. Maybe everything he was in period, though I haven't seen it all.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:23 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 1:23 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
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posted by action man bow-tie at 1:23 PM on September 2, 2016
posted by action man bow-tie at 1:23 PM on September 2, 2016
ALWAYS PUT ONE IN THE BRAIN
One of the greatest performances of all time.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:28 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
One of the greatest performances of all time.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:28 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
He's one of the all time great "that guy" actors. What a fabulous career. What a tremendous loss.
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posted by Joey Michaels at 1:29 PM on September 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 1:29 PM on September 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
He's making a pass at god now. And that's never out of line.
posted by griphus at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Damn.
I remember I thought he had died - it took me until the Big Lebowski to realize I was crossing his suicide in Homicide with real life.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I remember I thought he had died - it took me until the Big Lebowski to realize I was crossing his suicide in Homicide with real life.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
A great character actor who made a career work in show business when being gay was still frowned on.
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posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:47 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:47 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by Katjusa Roquette at 1:56 PM on September 2, 2016
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 1:56 PM on September 2, 2016
Seriously? The guy who played "Mr. New York" from the second-to-last episode of Fired Up!
2016, you're getting out of hand.
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posted by Smart Dalek at 2:00 PM on September 2, 2016
2016, you're getting out of hand.
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posted by Smart Dalek at 2:00 PM on September 2, 2016
He also did a memorable guest turn on Seinfeld, as Silvio the super who threw Newman out of the building as an "agitator."
posted by praemunire at 2:01 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 2:01 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
Nooooo. I will always especially love his performance in Miller's Crossing. And he was too young to leave us.
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posted by bearwife at 2:29 PM on September 2, 2016
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posted by bearwife at 2:29 PM on September 2, 2016
As Silvio on Seinfeld (SLYT, ~2 min)
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posted by splitpeasoup at 2:40 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by splitpeasoup at 2:40 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
He was Johnny Caspar, yes, and Da Fino, too. But he'll always be Det. Crossetti to me.
RIP.
posted by jonmc at 2:40 PM on September 2, 2016
RIP.
posted by jonmc at 2:40 PM on September 2, 2016
Oh, 2016, where's it all end?
An interesting ethical question...
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:49 PM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
An interesting ethical question...
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:49 PM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
He may have been frequently typecast as the gruff heavy, but there were few who could make those often-thankless roles sing like Jon Polito. And the fact that he has such a lengthy recorded history of doing it means we’ll probably still be pleasantly surprised to find him popping up in something we’re just now getting around to discovering, long after he’s gone.
Wow, now that's a proper send-off. Excellent.
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posted by Slap*Happy at 4:42 PM on September 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
Wow, now that's a proper send-off. Excellent.
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posted by Slap*Happy at 4:42 PM on September 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
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posted by Annabelle74 at 5:44 PM on September 2, 2016
posted by Annabelle74 at 5:44 PM on September 2, 2016
Any of you that didn't see him in Miller's Crossing, go watch it NOW. Really one of the best Coen Brothers movies, and one of his best performances. I'm so happy to have seen him, really a true and specific talent.
posted by Red Loop at 7:06 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Red Loop at 7:06 PM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
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I was indignant when they killed off Crosetti, leaving us wondering what really happened. Leaving poor Meldrick Lewis (the amazing Clark Johnson) struggling over it, too. His shadow loomed, his voice stuck with you.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:41 PM on September 2, 2016
I was indignant when they killed off Crosetti, leaving us wondering what really happened. Leaving poor Meldrick Lewis (the amazing Clark Johnson) struggling over it, too. His shadow loomed, his voice stuck with you.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:41 PM on September 2, 2016
Oh I loved him as Crosetti on Homicide. Truly a great performance.
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:03 AM on September 3, 2016
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:03 AM on September 3, 2016
komara, that's a penny you owe him.
AIN'T THAT RIGHT DANE!
(I do this too and will miss him every time. Also my favorite movie.)
posted by theredpen at 2:18 AM on September 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
AIN'T THAT RIGHT DANE!
(I do this too and will miss him every time. Also my favorite movie.)
posted by theredpen at 2:18 AM on September 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm not going to waste space here ranking Coen Bros movies, but I saw Miller's Crossing before I knew who they were, (Hey [local guy] Doug the Slug got a part in this -- let's watch it) and he utterly owned that film. I've seen it several times since & have come to the conclusion that out here in the real world there are two types of people- those who get the "high hat" references when I make them & those who don't. I'm just sad for the latter because of what they missed.
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posted by Devils Rancher at 3:31 AM on September 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by Devils Rancher at 3:31 AM on September 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
He's great in the Coen bros. films, but I have to second his short but utterly perfect (and perfectly cast) role in The Crow. There's never been a better "sleazy pawn shop owner" in the history of cinema, and never will be.
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posted by zardoz at 4:33 AM on September 3, 2016
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posted by zardoz at 4:33 AM on September 3, 2016
I love seeing that so many appreciated his role in "The Crow".
His credit list is a mile long. The man was a gem.
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posted by dbiedny at 8:54 AM on September 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
His credit list is a mile long. The man was a gem.
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posted by dbiedny at 8:54 AM on September 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by Bob Regular at 10:43 AM on September 3, 2016
posted by Bob Regular at 10:43 AM on September 3, 2016
Before I watched Coen Bros movies, I'll remember him as the ill-fated airfield owner from The Rocketeer
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posted by Fleebnork at 3:36 PM on September 3, 2016
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posted by Fleebnork at 3:36 PM on September 3, 2016
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+ 1 for the Crow. A great character. "Shit on me!"
posted by greenhornet at 5:04 PM on September 3, 2016
+ 1 for the Crow. A great character. "Shit on me!"
posted by greenhornet at 5:04 PM on September 3, 2016
Christ. Somehow I'd completely forgotten that he plays Frank's older brother on the most controversial episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. So good.
posted by rorgy at 8:45 PM on September 3, 2016
posted by rorgy at 8:45 PM on September 3, 2016
I love seeing that so many appreciated his role in "The Crow".
The Crow was a movie that had an immense and immediate impact on Gen X. It was based on a black and white indie comic that had a huge cult following as teenagers matured past Claremont and McFarlane, and the movie catapulted the entire anxiety and upset and change of the '90s into a visually stunning film that movies to this day still try to mimic. Everyone in it was cast perfectly, there were no throwaway roles. Everyone in it took their role seriously. Including, especially, the pawn broker. He had a very small role to fill, and he filled it to beyond brimming. (See also: Ernie Hudson.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:01 PM on September 5, 2016
The Crow was a movie that had an immense and immediate impact on Gen X. It was based on a black and white indie comic that had a huge cult following as teenagers matured past Claremont and McFarlane, and the movie catapulted the entire anxiety and upset and change of the '90s into a visually stunning film that movies to this day still try to mimic. Everyone in it was cast perfectly, there were no throwaway roles. Everyone in it took their role seriously. Including, especially, the pawn broker. He had a very small role to fill, and he filled it to beyond brimming. (See also: Ernie Hudson.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:01 PM on September 5, 2016
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posted by praemunire at 12:17 PM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]