John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American actor. He began his
career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway
plays including Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, John Patrick Shanley's
Italian American Reconciliation, and Brian Friel's Aristocrats. After
a starring role in William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A., he
began appearing regularly in film and on television, playing Ira
Buchman for all eight seasons of Mad About You and later Merc Lapidus
on Episodes.Pankow was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Catholic
family of German and Irish descent, the sixth of nine siblings. His
elder brother is trombonist/composer James Pankow, a founding member
of the rock group Chicago. Pankow grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, and
attended Maine South High School and Northeastern Illinois
University.He left the university in his junior year after he attended
a performance of David Mamet's The American Buffalo at the St.
Nicholas Theater. Inspired by the play, he enrolled in the theater's
two-year theatrical training program in order to concentrate solely on
acting.While visiting a friend in New York City, Pankow auditioned
for, and won, a role in an episode of PBS' Great Performances entitled
"Life on the Mississippi". He went on to perform in several
Off-Broadway productions including Aristocrats, Italian American
Reconciliation, and the New York Shakespeare Festival's The Tempest,
Two Gentlemen of Verona and Henry VIII. He subsequently made it to
Broadway with Serious Money, The Iceman Cometh, and as Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus, replacing Tim Curry in the role and
subsequently replacing him for a touring production.
career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway
plays including Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, John Patrick Shanley's
Italian American Reconciliation, and Brian Friel's Aristocrats. After
a starring role in William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A., he
began appearing regularly in film and on television, playing Ira
Buchman for all eight seasons of Mad About You and later Merc Lapidus
on Episodes.Pankow was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Catholic
family of German and Irish descent, the sixth of nine siblings. His
elder brother is trombonist/composer James Pankow, a founding member
of the rock group Chicago. Pankow grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, and
attended Maine South High School and Northeastern Illinois
University.He left the university in his junior year after he attended
a performance of David Mamet's The American Buffalo at the St.
Nicholas Theater. Inspired by the play, he enrolled in the theater's
two-year theatrical training program in order to concentrate solely on
acting.While visiting a friend in New York City, Pankow auditioned
for, and won, a role in an episode of PBS' Great Performances entitled
"Life on the Mississippi". He went on to perform in several
Off-Broadway productions including Aristocrats, Italian American
Reconciliation, and the New York Shakespeare Festival's The Tempest,
Two Gentlemen of Verona and Henry VIII. He subsequently made it to
Broadway with Serious Money, The Iceman Cometh, and as Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus, replacing Tim Curry in the role and
subsequently replacing him for a touring production.
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