Bob Dishy Movies
American actor Bob Dishy was trained in the demanding art of improvisational comedy. So certain of Dishy's skills were the producers of the 1968 TV adaptation of Arsenic and Old Lace that they allowed the actor--essaying the role of a cop with playwrighting aspirations--to "wing" most of his dialogue. Among Dishy's film credits are The Tiger Makes Out (1967), Lovers and Other Strangers (1970), First Family (1980), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) and Critical Condition (1987). Bob Dishy also appeared as part of a comic repertory company (which included such notables as Peter Bonerz, Paul Sand, Hamilton Camp and Melinda Dillon) on the largely ad-libbed 1971 syndicated TV series Story Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1976
- PG
Desperate for money, a husband decides to kill off his heavily-insured wife. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Kill My Wife...Please! was the rather desperate reissue title of the 1976 comedy I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? Sneaky Bob Dishy marries bitchy Joanna Barnes, then plots to kill her for the insurance money. He goes so far as to hire a hit man for that purpose-a man who deals in irrevocable contracts. The laughs are supposed to start rolling in when Dishy discovers that Barnes isn't insured after all. Bill Dana and Vito Scotti are among the potent comic talents wasted in this hectic dark farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Having scored a hit with her earlier All in the Family appearance as Edith's ultraliberal cousin, Maude, Bea Arthur returned to the role in this episode, which originally aired on March 11, 1972. Archie and Edith are invited to Long Island to attend the wedding of Maude's daughter, Carol. Thugh Maude is able to match wits with Archie (mainly because she has twice the ammunition), she may not succeed in pulling off the wedding, which threatens to unravel at the seams long before Carol marches down the aisle with her Jewish fiance, David (Bob Dishy). Written by Rod Parker, "Maude" served as the pilot for the series of the same name; William Macy co-stars as Maude's latest husband, Walter Findlay, while Marcia Rodd is seen as Carol, a role ultimately played in the series proper by Adrienne Barbeau. "Maude" was also the final episode of All in the Family's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
Lovers and Other Strangers became a "sleeper" hit, based on a play by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The story is essentially a series of vignettes and anecdotes, unified by an impending marriage. Father of the bride Hal (Gig Young) has problems with his long-suffering mistress, Cathy (Anne Jackson), who spends much of the film sitting on the toilet, crying her eyes out; Wilma (Anne Meara), the bride's sex-starved sister, can't wrest her husband, Johnny (Harry Guardino), away from the TV; and Frank (Richard S. Castellano), as the groom's father, slips comfortably into Bartlett's Familiar Quotations with his oft-repeated query "So what's the story?" Twelfth-billed Diane Keaton makes her film debut as a garrulous wedding guest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1967
Expanded from a two-character play by Murray Schisgal, this comedy stars Eli Wallach as Ben Harris, a disgruntled New York City mail carrier. Harris is fed up with being cheated by his landlords, the Kellys (Roland Wood and Ruth White), so he terrorizes them and the city's housing authority until they agree to give him a new apartment. Not satisfied, Harris "goes postal" by kidnapping a bored suburban housewife, Gloria Fiske (Anne Jackson) and taking her back to his apartment. To his surprise, he finds that Gloria also hates the world, and they become fast friends. He eventually lets her go but follows her home. When he tries to climb into her window, her husband Jerry (Bob Dishe) chases him away. Harris returns to his apartment building, where the Kellys invite him in to watch TV, and somehow this soothes his wrath. Dustin Hoffman has a small role as a hippie named Hap. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, (more)
