Joel Polis
- Actor
- Producer
Joel Polis was a competitive athlete in high school and earned a full
scholarship in gymnastics to the University of Southern California. He
caught the acting bug his freshman year when he was cast in the
school's production of "West Side Story." He then received a
scholarship to join the Summer Theater Festival on a European tour,
performing in England, Germany and the Edinburgh Theater Festival.
He dropped out of USC to work as a circus clown, but after three months
of tumbling around the arena, he decided that a life wearing big shoes
and a red rubber nose was not for him, so he boarded a Greyhound Bus
and headed East. He traveled to New York where he studied acting at NYU
and with the Broadway director
Lloyd Richards. He returned to
Los Angeles to finish his BA and then received his MFA from Yale Drama
School.
Joel has been acting for over twenty years in film, television and on
the stage. His first film role was as Fuchs in John Carpenter's classic
sci-fi film The Thing (1982). He has
appeared in numerous TV shows including Cheers (Gary), Alien Nation,
Northern Exposure, Star Trek: Voyager, Roseanne, Seinfeld, Chicago
Hope, Boston Legal, and CSI.
Joel's extensive theater credits include the Astor Place Theater,
Hartford Stage, Old Globe Theater, South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper
Forum, Odyssey Theatre, and the Pasadena Playhouse.
scholarship in gymnastics to the University of Southern California. He
caught the acting bug his freshman year when he was cast in the
school's production of "West Side Story." He then received a
scholarship to join the Summer Theater Festival on a European tour,
performing in England, Germany and the Edinburgh Theater Festival.
He dropped out of USC to work as a circus clown, but after three months
of tumbling around the arena, he decided that a life wearing big shoes
and a red rubber nose was not for him, so he boarded a Greyhound Bus
and headed East. He traveled to New York where he studied acting at NYU
and with the Broadway director
Lloyd Richards. He returned to
Los Angeles to finish his BA and then received his MFA from Yale Drama
School.
Joel has been acting for over twenty years in film, television and on
the stage. His first film role was as Fuchs in John Carpenter's classic
sci-fi film The Thing (1982). He has
appeared in numerous TV shows including Cheers (Gary), Alien Nation,
Northern Exposure, Star Trek: Voyager, Roseanne, Seinfeld, Chicago
Hope, Boston Legal, and CSI.
Joel's extensive theater credits include the Astor Place Theater,
Hartford Stage, Old Globe Theater, South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper
Forum, Odyssey Theatre, and the Pasadena Playhouse.