Robert Lesser or Bobby Lesser is an American film, theater and television actor.

Lesser was born in New York City, and lives in Santa Barbara. His earliest work dates to 1967 with "David Holzman's Diary", directed by Jim McBride. He is best known for the opening scene with Bruce Willis in Die Hard, his featured role in Hester Street with Carol Kane, The Big Easy, Oscar with Sylvester Stallone, Shoot to Kill with Sidney Poitier, Presidio starring Sean Connery, the Japanese film "Best Wishes for Tomorrow among others."Lesser has worked with Bruce Willis, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew Broderick, Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, and Richard Mulligan.[1][2] He is well known in the Santa Barbara theater community.[3][4]

In 2011, both the Wall Street Journal and The Hollywood Reporter published a front page, tongue-in-cheek open letter from Lesser to the Internet Movie Database after they refused to correct his birthdate, which they had listed as May 28, 1938, aging him considerably. [5] They have since corrected the date.

Selected theaters

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Rubicon Theatre: My Antonia, In All Honesty
Center Stage Theatre: The Goat or Who is Sylvia, by Edward Albee and Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett.
Ensemble Theatre Company: The Fourth Wall, Communicating Doors, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, The Weir, An Inspector Calls, and The Cripple of Inishmaan.

Selected films

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Year Title Role Notes
1967 David Holzman's Diary Max, Penny's agent
1974 Hot Times Coach / Guru
1975 Hester Street Lawyer
1977 The Goodbye Girl Richard III Cast
1980 Christmas Evil Detective Gottleib
1981 The Gangster Chronicles Treasury Agent #1
1984 2010 Dr. Hirsch
1986 Poltergeist II: The Other Side Kane's People
Running Scared Supoena Lawyer
The Big Easy 'Silky' Foster
1987 The Monster Squad Eugene's Dad
1988 Shoot to Kill Minelli
The Presidio Sgt. Mueller
Die Hard Businessman
Ernest Saves Christmas Marty
1989 Great Balls of Fire! Alan Freed
1991 Oscar Officer Keough
1993 What's Love Got to Do with It Fairmount M.C.
1995 Across the Moon Dentist #2
Steal Big Steal Little Agent Buchanan
1997 The Relic Mayor Robert Owen
1998 Godzilla Murray
1999 The Auteur Theory Abusive Dad - The Quest
End of Days Carson
2001 An American Rhapsody Harold
2007 Best Wishes for Tomorrow Featherstone title translates to "Ashita e no yuigon"
2009 Painting in the Rain Stefan
2016 8989 Redstone Pavel

Selected television

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References

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  1. ^ The New York Times Movies
  2. ^ "Robert Lesser". IMDb.
  3. ^ Bobby Lesser’s Film Role Puts America on Trial
  4. ^ "ROBERT LESSER". www.speakingofstories.org. Archived from the original on 2004-09-12.
  5. ^ "An Actor Pens an Open Letter to IMDB; Says He's 4 1/2 Years Younger Than They Claim". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 December 2011.
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