Michael Pataki(1936-2010)
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Excellent, prolific and versatile character actor Michael Pataki had a
long, varied and impressive career in both movies and TV shows, alike,
that spanned a little over 50 years. Pataki was born on January 16,
1938 in Youngstown, Ohio. He attended the University of Southern
California as a double major in Drama and Political Science. Michael
made his film debut with an uncredited small part in the 1958 feature,
Ten North Frederick (1958).
However, it was his acclaimed acting on stage in 1966 at a summer stock
festival in Edinburgh that really launched Pataki's career. Although
usually cast as mean and unlikable antagonistic characters, Michael on
occasion portrayed more appealing folks with equal skill and
conviction. Pataki gave a superbly chilling and compelling performance
as vicious bloodsucker "Caleb Croft" in the creepy horror winner,
Grave of the Vampire (1972).
Other memorable roles included nasty biker "Snake" in
The Dirt Gang (1972),
Marianna Hill's weak masochistic boyfriend
"Dennis" in the perverse
The Baby (1973), the lecherous "Sergeant
Ward" in the crummy,
The Bat People (1974), hi-jacker
"Wilson" in Airport '77 (1977),
Dracula's modern-day descendant "Michael Drake" in the hilariously
horrible Zoltan... Hound of Dracula (1977),
sleazy bounty hunter "Harry Iverson" in
The Glove (1979), hard-nosed "District
Attorney Dino Fulgoni" in the splendidly gritty
The Onion Field (1979), oddball
cemetery caretaker "Sam" in the offbeat zombie doozy
Dead and Buried (1981), ramrod
Russian sports official "Nicoli Koloff" in
Rocky IV (1985) and the stern "Dr.
Hoffman" in
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).
Pataki had a recurring role on the TV series,
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977);
he also appeared in the two spin-off theatrical pictures, Spider-Man
(1970) and
Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978).
Among the numerous TV shows Michael made guest appearances on are
The Twilight Zone (1959),
Star Trek (1966),
Combat (1962),
Rawhide (1959),
My Favorite Martian (1963),
Ben Casey (1961),
Batman (1966),
Mission: Impossible (1966),
The Flying Nun (1967),
Baretta (1975),
Happy Days (1974),
McCloud (1970),
Barney Miller (1975),
Little House on the Prairie (1974),
Charlie's Angels (1976),
T.J. Hooker (1982),
WKRP in Cincinnati (1978),
Laverne & Shirley (1976),
The Jeffersons (1975),
The Fall Guy (1981),
Airwolf (1987),
St. Elsewhere (1982) and
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
Moreover, Pataki provided voices for cartoon television programs; he
was especially notable as the voice of the demented "George Liquor" on
The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991).
Michael directed two low-budget 70s drive-in exploitation features for
producer Charles Band: the potently
unnerving horror shocker,
Mansion of the Doomed (1976),
and the amusingly silly soft-core comedy musical,
The Other Cinderella (1977). In addition, Pataki
also worked as an acting coach. Michael died of cancer at age 72 on
April 15, 2010 in North Hollywood, California.
