Bob Balaban

BirthDate BirthPlace	08/15/1945 Chicago, IL

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His uncle Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures from 1936-64.
Studied with the Second City Comedy Troupe at age 16 and made his stage debut with them.
Grandfather Sam Katz, who was head of production at MGM, was first married to Bob's paternal aunt Ida and then, after her death, to Bob's maternal grandmother, Belle.
Paternal grandparents were Russian immigrants who owned a grocery store in Chicago.
Comes from a family of cinema magnates who---with Morris and Sam Katz---formed Balaban & Katz, which owned more than 100 theaters in the Midwest.
Film debut was in 1969's Midnight Cowboy.
As a senior, he was cast in Plaza Suite on Broadway; had to postpone graduation because he kept getting acting jobs.
Wrote Spielberg, Truffaut and Me, a diary about his experiences filming Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
As a college junior, won the role of Linus in the original off-Broadway production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Authored children's books featuring a bionic dog named McGrowl.