John A. "Jack" Riley Jr. (December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016) was an American actor, voice artist and comedian. He is known for playing Elliot Carlin on the The Bob Newhart Show and for voicing Stu Pickles in the Rugrats franchise, which consists of the TV series, the spin-off All Grown Up!, the film trilogy, and three separate video games.

Early life

Riley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. (née Corrigan) and John A. Riley.

After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, he served in the United States Army.

Riley gave up the radio show in the mid 1960s and moved to Los Angeles, where his friend Tim Conway helped him receive work writing comedy sketches, which later led to acting opportunities.

Career

Riley was first a semi-regular in the cast of the 1960s sitcom Occasional Wife, a short-lived show on NBC in which he played Wally Frick, although, and perhaps, his greatest fame came in the character of Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show.

Among his other TV credits are multiple appearances on such shows as Barney Miller, Hogan's Heroes, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, One Day at a Time,[1] Gomer Pyle,[1] Diff'rent Strokes and Night Court.

In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Fun-House, then in 1979, he starred in ABC's holiday telefilm The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (aka The Night Dracula Saved The World) as Warren the Werewolf (Wolf Man) of Budapest.

Riley appeared in a HBO comedy special in 1980 called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter.

He was a regular cast member in The Tim Conway Show, a comedy-variety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through the late Summer of 1981, acting in sketch comedy in each episode.

Riley was also a favorite of Mel Brooks, appearing in several of his films: High Anxiety, History of the World: Part I, To Be or Not to Be, and (cameo only) Spaceballs.

In 1985, he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St. Elsewhere.

Riley was also a ubiquitous voice in television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine. He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for CompUSA which aired in the 1990s.

He continued to make guest appearances during the 1990s in popular sitcoms, showing up in episodes of Seinfeld, Son of the Beach, Friends, Coach, The Drew Carey Show, That '70s Show  and, in a gag appearance, as an unnamed but obvious Mr. Carlin in an episode of Newhart.

He made a cameo appearance on the November 23, 2013, episode of Saturday Night Live, as a subway passenger during the skit "Matchbox 3".

Personal life

On May 18, 1975, he married Ginger Lawrence. They had two children.

Riley died on August 19, 2016, aged 80 in Los Angeles, California, due to pneumonia.