Born Nov. 22, 1956 in Trenton, NJ, and raised in Bucks County, PA, Kind was the oldest of two children born to father Samuel Kind, a jeweler, and mother Alice, a homemaker. A frequent and enthusiastic performer in school plays, Kind attended Northwestern University as a pre-law major and graduated in 1978, but at the urging of a family friend, pursued acting for a year prior to law school. Kind relocated to New York to find full time work as an actor, but found little there beyond commercials and theater. He then moved to Chicago in the early ‘80s, where he found success as a member of the Practical Theatre Company, an improv comedy group founded by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, husband Brad Hall, and fellow “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 1975- ) alum Gary Kroeger. Later, Kind made an impression on Chicago audiences as a member of the venerable Second City troupe, before moving once again to Los Angeles to join its West Coast wing.
By the mid 1980s, Kind was finding regular work in episodic television, starting in 1985 with the TV movie “Two Fathers’ Justice,” “Mr. Belvedere” (ABC, 1985-1990) and “Anything But Love” (ABC, 1989-1992). His first series role came with the very short-lived crime/suspense drama “UNSUB” (NBC, 1989), which was soon followed by turns on a pair of short-lived Carol Burnett series, “Carol and Company” (NBC, 1990-91) and “The Carol Burnett Show” (NBC, 1991). Kind also landed what would be the first of many voice-over jobs in 1992 as the only credited voice for the venerable cartoon cat Tom in “Tom and Jerry: The Movie.” That same year, Kind was cast as Mark Devanow, husband to Jamie Buchman’s (Helen Hunt) best friend Fran (Leila Kenzle) on “Mad About You” (Kind was written out of the show after the show’s first season, but returned repeatedly during its network run). Post-“Mad About You,” Kind appeared in a handful of features, including small roles in “Stargate” (1994) and the offbeat Martin Short comedy “Clifford” (1994), but television provided his most consistent showcase. He played an amusingly oily and crooked accountant on the comedy “Blue Skies” (ABC, 1994), enjoyed a recurring role in the Michael Chiklis series “The Commish” (ABC, 1991-95), and logged episodes on “The Nanny” (CBS, 1993-99) before returning to full time series work with the ABC series “Spin City.”
As nebbish press secretary Paul Lassister, Kind stayed with the show throughout its tumultuous history (which saw the departure of star Michael J. Fox and arrival of new lead Charlie Sheen) until its cancellation in 2001. During his tenure on “City,” Kind remained impressively busy with other projects. He appeared on Broadway as Tony Roberts’ replacement in “The Allergist’s Wife” in 2000; was a sympathetic hotel clerk in the downbeat gay hustler drama “Johns” (1996), and played an attorney in John Ridley’s modern noir “Cold Around the Heart” (1997). He also lent his voice to numerous animated features and series, most notably the Pixar film “A Bug’s Life” (1998), for which he voiced Molt, the chatty henchman/brother of villain Hopper (Kevin Spacey), and the Nickelodeon series “Oswald” (2001-), for which he provided the voice of Pongo, The Friendly Dragon.
In recent years, Kind’s animation credits expanded to include the popular Disney Channel series “Kim Possible” (2002- ) as faux Euro villain Frugal Lucre, the feature version of “Garfield” (2004) as Daddy Rat, “American Dad!” (Fox, 2005), and most recently, as Larry the anaconda in “The Wild” (2006) and as Van in the Disney/Pixar production “Cars” (2006). He also provided a voice for the “Stitch’s Great Escape” ride at Walt Disney World.
Kind’s returned to live action with a small role in his close friend George Clooney’s directorial debut, “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” (2002), as well as playing himself in Clooney’s short-lived HBO series, “Unscripted,” 2005). He had supporting turns in “The Station Agent” (2003), and “Bewitched” (2005) as well as being a consistent source of amusement on the NBC series “Scrubs” (2001-) as the ultra-hypochondriac and litigious patient Harvey Corman. Kind periodically stole scenes as Larry David’s obnoxious and needy New York cousin Andy on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO, 2000-). He also appeared briefly as the jury foreman at the conclusion of “The Producers” (2005), as well as made his Broadway musical debut as Max Bialystock opposite his former “Spin City” co-star, Alan Ruck. Most recently, Kind appeared as a scientist in the kids’ comedy “Spymate” (2006), co-starring Emma Roberts, and on the syndicated series “Stargate: Atlantis” (The Sci-Fi Channel, 2004- ).