His son Dipak Pallana was the proprietor of the Cosmic Cup Cafe in Dallas, Texas, where actor Owen Wilson and director Wes Anderson used to hang out and where they "discovered" Kumar Pallana when he was about 80 years old.
He collapsed & died in his home while getting ready to go play bridge with his friends. He had been in good health for his age, very energetic and active. He had filmed a TV pilot show in New York just two months before his death.
He immigrated to the U.S. in 1946. He found work as a movie extra in Los Angeles, where he was often cast as an American Indian in Westerns.
His very different-looking son Dipak often co-starred
with his father in Wes Anderson's films, although never in the
same scene.