Toby Radloff
A picture of American actor Toby Radloff
Radloff in August 2021
Born (1957-12-12) December 12, 1957
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilm actor
Known forKiller Nerd

Toby Radloff (born December 12, 1957) is a former file clerk and actor who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book series American Splendor. Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms.[1] He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine Nerd".

Career

Radloff met Pekar in 1980 when Radloff was hired at Cleveland's Veterans Administration Hospital, and shortly became a recurring character in American Splendor.[2][3]

Television profiles of Pekar at work at the VA Hospital, in which Radloff appeared, led to Radloff being featured as a "special correspondent" in a few short comedic pieces on MTV in the late 1980s[4] about Cleveland and White Castle hamburgers (a particular favorite of Radloff's).[5] Radloff was also a frequent guest on a local Cleveland cable access show, The Eddie Marshall Show.

Radloff is a huge admirer of the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, which he estimated in 2003 to have seen at least 25 times;[3] his enthusiasm for the film was documented in the American Splendor comic (and in a number of scenes in the American Splendor film). Radloff's public persona as a "Genuine Nerd," cemented by his appearances on MTV, led to his starring roles as Harold Kunkle in the comedy horror film Killer Nerd (1991) and its sequel Bride of Killer Nerd (1992).[6]

In the 2003 American Splendor film, the adaptation of Pekar's work, Radloff is played by Judah Friedlander, and also appears as himself in the documentary sections of the film.[7] Radloff publicly came out as gay after the film's release.[3]

In 2006, a documentary on Radloff entitled Genuine Nerd was released, produced by Wayne Alan Harold, the creator of Radloff's original MTV segments (and co-director of the Killer Nerd films).[8]

On August 3, 2006, Radloff tried out to be the next "Wack Packer" on The Howard Stern Show, but lost in the finals because Stern and crew felt that he was too famous.[9][10]

In June, 2020, Radloff started appearing in Wayne Alan Harold's web series Cheapskate Theater. In the videos, Radloff humorously reviews vintage horror and science-fiction movies.

Comic book appearances

Source:[11]
All stories written by Harvey Pekar.

  • [untitled cover], American Splendor #9 (Harvey Pekar, 1984) — art by Sean Carroll
  • "Advertising," American Splendor #9 (Harvey Pekar, 1984) — art by Sean Carroll
  • "Who Are You Kidding?," American Splendor #9 (Harvey Pekar, 1984) — art by Sean Carroll
  • "History Repeats Itself," American Splendor #9 (Harvey Pekar, 1984) — art by Sean Carroll
  • "Lentils And Lent," American Splendor #9 (Harvey Pekar, 1984) — art by Sean Carroll
  • "Double Feature part 1: Footloose," American Splendor #10 (Harvey Pekar, 1985) — art by Bill Knapp
  • "Double Feature part 2: Revenge Of The Nerds," American Splendor #10 (Harvey Pekar, 1985) — art by Bill Knapp
  • "Higher Education," American Splendor #11 (Harvey Pekar, 1986) — art by Val Mayerik
  • ["Hiya Toby" — back cover], American Splendor #11 (Harvey Pekar, 1986) — art by Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm
  • "Blue Angels," American Splendor #12 (Harvey Pekar, 1987) — art by Ed Wesolowski
  • "Hysteria," American Splendor #12 (Harvey Pekar, 1987) — art by Val Mayerik and James Sherman
  • "Say No to Drugs," American Splendor #13 (Harvey Pekar, 1988) — art by Ed Wesolowski
  • ["I saw that article on ya in the Plain Dealer, Toby" — back cover], American Splendor #13 (Harvey Pekar, 1988) — art by Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm
  • "Typing," American Splendor #14 (Harvey Pekar, 1989) — art by Ed Wesolowski
  • "Toby Saves The Day," American Splendor #15 (Harvey Pekar, 1990) — art by Ed Wesolowski
  • "Wounded In Action," American Splendor #15 (Harvey Pekar, 1990) — art by Spain
  • "Serial / Cereal," American Splendor #16 (Harvey Pekar, 1991) — art by Carole Sobocinski
  • The Holy Roman Empire was Neither Holy nor Roman nor Empire," American Splendor #16 (Harvey Pekar, 1991) — art by Joe Zabel and Gary Dumm
  • "Self Justification or Anticipating the Critics," American Splendor #16 (Harvey Pekar, 1991) — art by Frank Stack
  • "The Last Word In Answers," American Splendor #17 (Dark Horse, 1993) — art by Carole Sobocinski
  • "A Step... Out of the Nest," American Splendor Special: A Step Out of the Nest (Dark Horse, August 1994) — art by Joe Zabel and Gary Dumm & John Stats
  • "Breakfast at Billy's," Dark Horse Presents #100-3 (Dark Horse, August 1995) — art by Joe Sacco
  • "Flight To Chicago," American Splendor: Windfall #1 (Dark Horse, September 1995) — art by Joe Zabel and Gary Dumm
  • "Reduction," American Splendor: Portrait of the Author in His Declining Years (Dark Horse, 2001) — art by Josh Neufeld
  • "Waiting For a Jump," American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004) — art by Gerry Shamray
  • "Hollywood Reporter," American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004) — art by Josh Neufeld

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role
1991 Killer Nerd Harold Kunkle
1992 Bride of Killer Nerd Harold Kunkle
1999 Townies Dickie
2003 American Splendor Real Toby
2006 The Oh in Ohio Toby
2006 Genuine Nerd Himself
2007 Cordoba Nights Man in parked car
2008 The Comic Book Lady Toby
2012 Sonny Days Russell
2019 Spirit Animal Tree of Life

References

  1. ↑ Murray, Noel. "The changing face of 'nerds' (and autism) in popular culture," AV Club (Jan. 16, 2013).
  2. ↑ Admn. "TOBY RADLOFF: A REAL AMERICAN NERD," Film Threat Feb. 18, 2003).
  3. 1 2 3 Dennis Hensley (September 3, 2003). "Revenge of the nerd". The Advocate. pp. 53–54.
  4. ↑ Hanks, Henry. "'My Life as Liz' and the evolution of the MTV nerd," CNN.com (February 15, 2011).
  5. ↑ Muss-Barnes, Eric. "Book Review: Our Movie Year by Harvey Pekar, 31 July 2015," Inkshard: A Compendium of Essays by Eric Muss-Barnes (Lulu Press, 2019).
  6. ↑ Pekar, Harvey (and Josh Neufed). "Hollywood Reporter," American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004).
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (August 15, 2003). "American Splendor (2003) Film Review; A Comics Guy, Outside the Box". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Gibron, Bill (July 10, 2006). "Genuine Nerd". DVDTalk.com.
  9. ↑ Panasci, Thomas; Kaplan, Jason (2006-08-03). "The Next Wack Packer". HowardStern.com. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  10. ↑ Mercer, Mark (2006-08-03). "Thursday, August 3, 2006". Marksfriggin. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  11. ↑ "Toby Radloff" search, Grand Comics Database. Accessed July 31, 2019.
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