- Born
- Birth nameJoel Ian Polis
- Joel Polis was a competitive athlete in high school and earned a full scholarship in gymnastics to the University of Southern California. He caught the acting bug his freshman year when he was cast in the school's production of "West Side Story." He then received a scholarship to join the Summer Theater Festival on a European tour, performing in England, Germany and the Edinburgh Theater Festival.
He dropped out of USC to work as a circus clown, but after three months of tumbling around the arena, he decided that a life wearing big shoes and a red rubber nose was not for him, so he boarded a Greyhound Bus and headed East. He traveled to New York where he studied acting at NYU and with the Broadway director Lloyd Richards. He returned to Los Angeles to finish his BA and then received his MFA from Yale Drama School.
Joel has been acting for over twenty years in film, television and on the stage. His first film role was as Fuchs in John Carpenter's classic sci-fi film The Thing (1982). He has appeared in numerous TV shows including Cheers (Gary), Alien Nation, Northern Exposure, Star Trek: Voyager, Roseanne, Seinfeld, Chicago Hope, Boston Legal, and CSI.
Joel's extensive theater credits include the Astor Place Theater, Hartford Stage, Old Globe Theater, South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, Odyssey Theatre, and the Pasadena Playhouse.- IMDb mini biography by: marie-15 - Joel Polis has been a professional actor on the stage, in films, and on television, in a career that has spanned the almost four decades. After an athletic career as a university gymnast and circus performer, Joel received a BA from USC's School of Theatre and an MFA from Yale Drama School before moving to NYC to start a life on the professional stage. With an extensive resume from the off Broadway and regional theatre circuits, he returned to Los Angeles to work in TV and films. His credits include over 120 recurring and guest starring roles on television, a dozen feature films, and over 60 stage productions. He has recently begun directing in the theatre and also teaches and coaches Acting at several Southern California venues and privately. Joel makes his home in Venice Beach.- IMDb mini biography by: Joel Polis
- The elder of identical twin siblings.
- In his appearances on Seinfeld (1989), he plays Reilly a wisecracking co-worker of George Costanza who picks on him for stuffing himself with shrimp during a staff meeting. Humiliated, George develops his "the jerk store called" comeback line to use against Reilly. The "jerk store called" became a phrase used in popular media to describe an idiot and the 'Jerk Store Grunt' sound was used in the video game Halo 3 (2007).
- Played Yepikhodov in 'The Cherry Orchard' at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles in 2002.
- Nominated for the 2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in the 'Lead Performance' category for "Pound of Flesh" Odyssey Theater.
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