Peter Riegert (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in '' Animal House'' (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in '' Local Hero'' (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner in '' Crossing Delancey'' (1988), Lt. Mitch Kellaway in '' The Mask'' (1994), and glove manufacturer Lou Levov in '' American Pastoral'' (2016). He directed the short film ''By Courier'' (2000), for which he was nominated along with producer Ericka Frederick for the

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

. On television, Riegert had a recurring role as crooked Newark Assemblyman and later State Senator Ronald Zellman in seasons three and four of the HBO series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'' (2001–2002), appeared as George Moore in the first season of the FX series ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

'' (2007), and portrayed Seth Green's father in the comedy series '' Dads'' (2013–2014). He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the HBO film ''

Barbarians at the Gate ''Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco'' is a 1989 book about the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco, written by investigative journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar. The book is based upon a series of articles written by th ...

'' in 1993.

Early life and education

Riegert was born on April 11, 1947, in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York, the son of Lucille, a piano teacher, and Milton Riegert, a food wholesaler. Riegert grew up in

Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Green ...

, and was raised in a non-observant

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

household. He graduated from Ardsley High School in 1964 and later from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

. He worked at a number of jobs, including teaching, waiting tables, and as a social worker before settling on acting as a career.

Career

Stage

Riegert made his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in the musical '' Dance with Me''. Other Broadway credits include '' The Old Neighborhood'', '' An American Daughter'', '' The Nerd'', and ''Censored Scenes From King Kong''. Off-Broadway he has appeared in ''Road to Nirvana'', '' The Birthday Party'', ''Isn't It Romantic'', '' Sexual Perversity in Chicago'', and ''A Rosen by Any Other Name''.

Film

Riegert's film debut came in 1978's ''

National Lampoon's Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

''. He has subsequently appeared in films such as '' Crossing Delancey'', '' Local Hero'', ''The Mask'', ''Traffic'', and ''

We Bought a Zoo ''We Bought a Zoo'' is a 2011 American family comedy-drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. It was co-written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as widowed father Benjamin Mee, who purchas ...

''.

Television

Riegert made his

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

debut in two episodes of '' M*A*S*H''. He has also portrayed Newark Assemblyman and later

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

State Senator Ronald Zellman in ''

'' and defense attorney Chauncey Zeirko in multiple episodes of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. He starred opposite former girlfriend Bette Midler in the television adaptation of '' Gypsy'' and was featured in the HBO drama ''

'' (which earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special). He also starred as composer Jake Rubin (based on real-life composer

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

) in the 1984 miniseries ''

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

'', the final episode of '' Seinfeld'' as the president of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and the

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Back When We Were Grownups''. Riegert voiced the character of Max Weinstein in the controversial episode " When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" of '' Family Guy''. Riegert guest-starred in a Season 2 episode of ''

Leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...

'' as corrupt lawyer Peter Blanchard. In 2011, Riegert began a multi-episode arc on ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'' as August Kellerman, Nathan's unforgiving college professor. Riegert appeared as the character George Moore in Season 1 of ''

''. He also appeared in a recurring role as Judge Harvey Winter in CBS' ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

''. He appeared in '' Dads'' as David Sachs, the father of Eli Sachs, played by Seth Green. Riegert also appeared in Seasons 3 and 4 of '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt''. He made a multi-episode guest appearance in the second half of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

original comedy series '' Disjointed''. Riegert has a recurring role as left-wing lawyer Roger Pugh on Season 3 of the HBO series '' Succession''.

Director and writer

Riegert made his screenwriting and directorial debuts with ''By Courier'', based on a short story by O. Henry. It received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Live Action Short Film and won him the Festival Award for Best First Feature at the

Marco Island Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish ...

Film Festival. Riegert also directed and co-wrote '' King of the Corner'', a 2004 film featured at the Newport Film Festival, in which he also starred alongside

Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...

. It also featured

Eric Bogosian Eric Bogosian ( hy, Էրիկ Բոգոսյան; ; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and a ...

Dominic Chianese Dominic Chianese (; born February 24, 1931) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), Johnny Ola in '' The Godfather Part II'' (1 ...

, Beverly D'Angelo and Rita Moreno.

Voice work

Riegert narrated the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

's '' The Yiddish Policemen's Union'', which was nominated for a 2008

Audie Award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

literary fiction Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...

. He also narrated the audiobook of ''The Voyage of the Narwhal'', and has read the stories of

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...

. He was also the narrator for ''

The First Basket ''The First Basket'' is a 2008 documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture. It is narrated by Peter Riegert. The film includes interviews and narratives provided by, and footage of, well known Jewish basketball person ...

'', a documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
IndustryCentral profileAllMovie.com profileInterview with Riegert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riegert, Peter 1947 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Film directors from New York City Male actors from New York City Jewish American male actors Jewish American writers Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners People from Hartsdale, New York People from the Bronx University at Buffalo alumni 21st-century American Jews