Excellent, prolific and versatile character actor Michael Pataki had a
long, varied and impressive career in both movies and TV shows, alike,
that spanned a little over 50 years. Pataki was born on January 16,
1938 in Youngstown, Ohio. He attended the University of Southern
California as a double major in Drama and Political Science. Michael
made his film debut with an uncredited small part in the 1958 feature,
Ein Mann in den besten Jahren (1958).
However, it was his acclaimed acting on stage in 1966 at a summer stock
festival in Edinburgh that really launched Pataki's career. Although
usually cast as mean and unlikable antagonistic characters, Michael on
occasion portrayed more appealing folks with equal skill and
conviction. Pataki gave a superbly chilling and compelling performance
as vicious bloodsucker "Caleb Croft" in the creepy horror winner,
Die Gruft des Grauens (1972).
Other memorable roles included nasty biker "Snake" in
Gott sei den Bullen gnädig (1972),
Marianna Hill's weak masochistic boyfriend
"Dennis" in the perverse
The Baby (1973), the lecherous "Sergeant
Ward" in the crummy,
Bat People - Die Blutsauger (1974), hi-jacker
"Wilson" in Verschollen im Bermuda-Dreieck (1977),
Dracula's modern-day descendant "Michael Drake" in the hilariously
horrible Zoltan, Draculas Bluthund (1977),
sleazy bounty hunter "Harry Iverson" in
Die Faust (1979), hard-nosed "District
Attorney Dino Fulgoni" in the splendidly gritty
Mord im Zwiebelfeld (1979), oddball
cemetery caretaker "Sam" in the offbeat zombie doozy
Tot & begraben (1981), ramrod
Russian sports official "Nicoli Koloff" in
Rocky IV - Der Kampf des Jahrhunderts (1985) and the stern "Dr.
Hoffman" in
Halloween 4 - Michael Myers kehrt zurück (1988).
Pataki had a recurring role on the TV series,
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977);
he also appeared in the two spin-off theatrical pictures, Spider-Man
(1970) and
Spider-Man schlägt zurück (1978).
Among the numerous TV shows Michael made guest appearances on are
Unwahrscheinliche Geschichten (1959),
Raumschiff Enterprise (1966),
Combat! (1962),
Tausend Meilen Staub (1959),
Mein Onkel vom Mars (1963),
Ben Casey (1961),
Batman (1966),
Kobra, übernehmen Sie (1966),
The Flying Nun (1967),
Baretta (1975),
Happy Days (1974),
Ein Sheriff in New York (1970),
Barney Miller (1975),
Unsere kleine Farm (1974),
Drei Engel für Charlie (1976),
T. J. Hooker (1982),
WKRP in Cincinnati (1978),
Laverne & Shirley (1976),
Die Jeffersons (1975),
Ein Colt für alle Fälle (1981),
Airwolf (1987),
Chefarzt Dr. Westphall (1982) and
Raumschiff Enterprise: Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987).
Moreover, Pataki provided voices for cartoon television programs; he
was especially notable as the voice of the demented "George Liquor" on
Die Ren & Stimpy Show (1991).
Michael directed two low-budget 70s drive-in exploitation features for
producer Charles Band: the potently
unnerving horror shocker,
Das Haus mit dem Folterkeller (1976),
and the amusingly silly soft-core comedy musical,
Die tolle Geschichte der C. (1977). In addition, Pataki
also worked as an acting coach. Michael died of cancer at age 72 on
April 15, 2010 in North Hollywood, California.
