Jon Polito, best known as a repertory player of the Coen Brothers, has passed away at the age of 65.
Jon Polito, one of the most visible actors on the entertainment scene for the last four decades, has slipped away from us at the age of 65. Even to those unfamiliar with his name, the veteran actor sported a face and voice that is instantly recognizable to anyone who has watched a suspenseful crime thriller or a quirky comedy released within the breadth of his potently prolific career over the past 35 years. However, he remains an iconic fixture of the murder-comedy maestros Joel and Ethan Coen and their numerous hit films.
Polito passed away this morning at City of Hope Hospital in Los Angeles, succumbing to a form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma, with which he was first diagnosed in 2010. News of Jon Polito’s passing came by way of director John McNaughton, who happened to be behind the camera for the swan song of the actor’s controversially cut-short run on the inaugural season of NBC police procedural Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994. However, the ubiquitous player Polito leaves behind an immense body of work whose breadth was matched by few in the industry.
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Polito was best known as a familiar face that graced several of the Coen Brothers’ notable comedic suspense films such as 1990’s Miller’s Crossing, 1991’s Barton Fink, 1994’s The Hudsucker Proxy, and, perhaps most prominently, as private eye Da Fino in the revered cult classic The Big Lebowski. He also appeared in the siblings’ 2001 film noir influenced entry The Man Who Wasn’t There. Of course, Polito’s work with the Coen Brothers hardly conveys the depth of his non-Coen onscreen appearances in myriad films such as 2013’s Gangster Squad, 2007’s American Gangster, 1986’s Highlander and 1984’s C.H.U.D.
However, Polito’s acting debut in the 1981 miniseries The Gangster Chronicles would also kick off an insane array of television appearances, far too many to list. Notably memorable entries include his 1998 appearance on Seinfeld as a super trying to evict Newman over a reverse-peephole. He was also a regular on a science-fiction series about a news tabloid investigating cryptozoic incidents called The Chronicle, which aired on Syfy (née Sci-Fi Channel) in 2001-2002. He also had memorable guest spots on Gilmore Girls (notably in Kirk’s wacky avant-garde film), Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Castle and also recently fielded a recurring role on Modern Family. His work also extended behind the microphone, providing voice performances for a number of animated television shows like Batman Beyond, 2011’s ThunderCats revival and the 2011 animated feature Batman: Year One.
While Polito was often type-casted onscreen as a weaselly gangster figure, it was something he openly embraced and utilized toward a colossal onscreen career. We here at Den of Geek thank Jon Polito for the massive memories and wish to convey our condolences to his friends and family.
