Conrad Janis was born on February 11 1928 in New York City. His father was Sidney Janis, a well known art collector. His mother was Harriet Janis, an author on various books on the fine arts. Conrad Janis made his debut on Broadway when he appeared at age 14 in Junior Miss in 1942. He went onto appear on Broadway in Dark of the Moon and The Next Half Hour. When he was 16 he went to California where he made his debut in the film Snafu (1945), playing a 16 year old who enlists in the Army. In the late Forties he appeared in the movies Margie (1946), The Brasher Doubloon (1947), That Hagen Girl (1947), and Beyond Glory (1948). He made his television debut in 1949 in an episode of Actor's Studio. In the late Forties he guest starred on the shows Starlight Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, and The Web.
In the Fifties he guest starred on the TV shows The Big Story, CBS Television Playhouse, Suspense, The Doctor, The Gulf Playhouse, Bonino, Omnibus, Studio One, The Man Behind the Badge, Kraft Television Theatre, Danger, Appointment with Adventure, Matinee Theatre, Zane Grey Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Untouchables, The United States Steel Hour, and The Robert Herridge Theatre. He appeared on Broadway in The Brass Ring, Time Out for Ginger, The Terrible Swift Sword, A Visit to a Small Planet, and Make a Million. He appeared in the film Let's Rock.
In the Sixties Conrad Janis guest starred on the TV shows Stoney Burke, The Nurses, Get Smart, and My Favorite Martian. He appeared on Broadway in Sunday in New York, Marathon '33, and The Front Page.
In the Seventies he played Otto Bob Palindrome, the bureaucrat who ran the space station Perma One on the sci-fi comedy Quark and Mindy's father Fred on Mork & Mindy. He guest starred on the shows Banacek; Cannon; The Manhunter; Baretta; The Invisible Man; The Waltons; Maude; Happy Days; The Streets of San Francisco; Police Story; The Jeffersons; Dog and Cat; Kojak; Husband, Wives & Lovers; Barnaby Jones; California Fever; The Love Boat; House Calls; and Laverne & Shirley. He appeared on Broadway in No Hard Feelings and Same Time, Next Year. He appeared in the movies Airport 1975 (1974), The Happy Hooker (1975), The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), Roseland (1977), The Buddy Holly Story (1978), and Oh, God! Book II (1980).
In the Eighties Mr. Janis guest starred on the TV shows Here's Boomer, Insight, Trapper John M.D., Mama's Family, St. Elsewhere, Remington Steele, V, Highway to Heaven, George Burns Comedy Week, You Again?, The Golden Girls, Shades of LA, and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in the movies Brewster's Millions (1985), Nothing in Common (1986), Sonny Boy (1989), and Caddie Woodlawn (1989).
In the Nineties Conrad Janis had a recurring role as one of Frasier Crane's neighbours on Frasier. He guest starred on the TV shows Murder, She Wrote; Baywatch; Diagnosis Murder; and Family Law. He appeared in the movies He appeared in the movies Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Heung Gong wun fung kwong (1993), The Cable Guy (1996), and Last Night (1998). In 2009 he appeared in the movie Maneater. His last appearance on film was in the movie Bad Blood (2012).
Conrad Janis was also a talented trombonist and an aficionado of traditional jazz. In 1949 he formed a band with some of the jazz greats he idolized (pianist James P. Johnson, trumpeter Henry Goodwin, clarinettist Edmond Hall, bassist Pops Foster, and drummer Baby Dodds). In the late Seventies he formed the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.
Conrad Janis was a truly great talent. Over the years he played a diverse number of roles, from petty bureaucrat Otto Bob Palindrome on Quark to Mindy's overly conservative father on Mork & Mindy. He played Gladstone, the assistant to a Mormon patriarch in The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox and a game show host who was friendly on camera but hostile off camera on Maude. While he may be best known for his work in comedy, Conrad Janis also did drama well. In The Untouchables episode "The Mark of Cain" he played the drug addicted drummer Sticks. In the movie Beyond Glory, he played a West Point cadet, Raymond Denmore Jr., who accuses another cadet (Rocky Gilman played by Alan Ladd Jr.) of bullying him after Gilman reports him for lying. There were very few roles that Conrad Janis could not play.
No comments:
Post a Comment