Bob Dishy

Bob Dishy (b. 1934) is a character actor and comedian who was a guest on the 1971 special Pure Goldie, along with the Muppets. In one sketch, Dishy (and fellow guest Ruth Buzzi) join Goldie Hawn in becoming Muppets (in Dishy's case, Snivelly) and sing "Mah Na Mah Na."

Dishy made his stage debut in the original Broadway run of Damn Yankees (a replacement as Rocky), but following a stint in the army, his primary performing background was in improvisational comedy. He first did improv at the Compass and then with the Second City (where he met and married fellow performer Judy Graubart). He supported Hermione Gingold in her 1960 revue From A to Z and was a regular on the satirical TV series That Was the Week That Was (1964-1965). For the rest of the sixties, Dishy made the talk show rounds (including Jack Paar and Mike Douglas) and performed in often off-beat Broadway fare such as the musical Flora the Red Menace (with Liza Minnelli), the Peter Ustinov play The Unknown Soldier and His Wife, Carl Reiner's Something Different (in the lead as a mother-obsessed playwright), and The Goodbye People (with Milton Berle). Films included The Tiger Makes Out (with Frances Sternhagen) and Lovers and Other Strangers (with Cloris Leachman) before starring in 1975's I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now (with Richard Libertini).

In 1976, Dishy originated the role of Abner Truckle in the Broadway play Sly Fox opposite George C. Scott. The part netted him a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor and he reprised it for the 2004 revival. The same year, he was directed by James Frawley in the disaster comedy The Big Bus (with Stockard Channing, Sally Kellerman, and many others), as a veterinarian stricken off the register. More supporting film parts in quirky or dry roles followed, mostly comedies, including ''Author! Author! (with [{Dyan Cannon]]), Brighton Beach Memoirs, Stay Tuned (with John Ritter), My Boyfriend's Back (with Austin Pendleton), Don Juan deMarco (with Johnny Depp), Jungle 2 Jungle (with Martin Short), and Along Came Polly'' (with Ben Stiller). On TV, he had guest roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Columbo (twice as Sgt. Wilson), That Girl, All in the Family, Barney Miller, Frasier, Matlock, The Golden Girls, Blue Bloods, and the pilot for Mozart in the Jungle, as well as appearing sporadically on Law & Order as defense attorney Lawrence Weaver from 1994 to 2002.