The Tobolowsky Files

January 27, 2010 10:03 AM

The Tobolowsky Files is a series of podcasts by character actor Stephen Tobolowsky - one of Those Guys, a recognizable face that has popped up in a multitude of productions but stayed mostly in the background. Following the style of Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party, where he shares many stories from his experiences, the podcasts bring a fascinating, sometimes humor-filled and sometimes tragic, look on the life of this almost jack-of-all-trades actor. It is hard not to be pulled in as he speaks of the death of his mother, his wild journey through Paris as a young student with his girlfriend, and many other tales from acting jobs to the random people he's encountered throughout his years.

The podcast updates on Fridays, with 13 episodes thus far.

posted by Tequila Mockingbird (16 comments total)

Bing!
posted by shakespeherian at 10:11 AM on January 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

That picture of him with hair is mindblowing.
posted by DU at 10:14 AM on January 27, 2010

Ahh, the original principle flutie from the unaired buffy pilot – I knew I recognized hime from somewhere

These sound pretty fun, I’ll check them out
posted by Think_Long at 10:25 AM on January 27, 2010

That picture of him with hair is mindblowing.

Yeah - I had no idea who that was based on the picture of him with hair - but once I saw the IMDB picture I realized that I've seen this guy in a ton of things.

I'm looking forward to checking this out. I'm always more interested in hearing from (or reading articles by) the actors that at this stage more than the big stars. He's obviously a working actor that has had a certain degree of success, but he hasn't hit the stage where is life is totally out-of-context to anything I could relate to.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:31 AM on January 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy!"

I love Stephen Tobolowsky! I've been a fan since Sneakers. "Hello. My/name/is/WernerBrandis. My/voice/is/my/passport? Verify/me?"

Any time Mr. C and I see him on TV or in a movie, we cheer.
posted by cereselle at 10:44 AM on January 27, 2010

My favorite thing about Stephen Tobolowsky is that his character on Glee is named Sandy Ryerson, which seems to pretty strongly indicate that he's the twin brother of Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:47 AM on January 27, 2010

Ah yes. When I saw Sneakers in the list I couldn't think who he was in that. Passssssport.
posted by DU at 10:47 AM on January 27, 2010

SAMMY: Ah! What the fuck?!

DOCTOR: It's a test, Sammy.

SAMMY EXTENDS A TREMBLING MIDDLE FINGER.

SAMMY: Yeah? Test this you fucking quack.


I love this guy.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:05 AM on January 27, 2010

I'm always more interested in hearing from (or reading articles by) the actors that at this stage more than the big stars.

Slack-a-gogo, you are familiar with the Random Roles feature at the Onion AV Club? For those who are not, it is a series of interviews with character actors on some of the more diverse roles of their careers: the most recent is with Beth Grant, who sometimes doubts your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:12 AM on January 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party is great. I'm sure half the stories he tells in the film are embellished to hell and back, but you want to go along with them because he is so good at telling a story.

He would be a fun guy to get drunk with.
posted by Arch_Stanton at 11:24 AM on January 27, 2010

you are familiar with the Random Roles feature at the Onion AV Club?

Whoah. That's a hell of a lineup. -- and my mind has just been blown -- I'd only noticed the first page. Awesome.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:39 AM on January 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I lived across the street from a Tobolowsky growing up. (He was definitely a relative of Stephen -- the Dallas Tobolowskys are all related.) I never met him, though, because, as far as anyone could figure, he never left his house. Anyway, one day bulldozers showed up and tore his house down. He was never spoken of again.

Oh, and I can't believe Stephen Tobolowsky used to look like this. He definitely, uh, grew into his voice.
posted by decagon at 12:14 PM on January 27, 2010

Sadly, the Long Tail may never catch up with his acting triumph in Dweebs.
posted by scruss at 12:47 PM on January 27, 2010

I used to work with him and his wife as remote staffers for an online game. They are great people.
posted by Foosnark at 2:20 PM on January 27, 2010

I thought I was the only one who remembered Dweebs. I actually liked that show. It's like the prehistoric, preevolutionary version of Big Bang Theory. Too bad it was cancelled after like 6 episodes.
posted by reenum at 3:21 PM on January 27, 2010

This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you!
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 4:46 PM on January 27, 2010