Michael J Pollard was born on 30 May 1939 in beautiful Passaic, New Jersey. He died at the age of 80 in 2019 in equally beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Pollard is a great actor and he has been in a lot of great films. I will get to that shortly. But there is one role I most associate him with. He’s great in it. But it really is almost insulting. I always think of the Star Trek episode “Miri.” Despite being 27 years old, he plays a (barely) prepubescent boy. And he steals the whole episode. But nothing new there! He tends to steal every scene he’s in everywhere!

Right around this same time, he guest-starred as another boy on an episode of Lost in Space, “The Magic Mirror.” If you get a chance, check it out. It is poignant in a way the show was rarely.

Pollard had an excellent career in TV up to that point. But he had a breakthrough the following year in the 1967 feature film Bonnie and Clyde. It was a pretty typical role for him. He tended to be typecast as a likeable idiot.

He next starred in the motorcycle film Little Fauss and Big Halsy. But he mostly provided spice as odd characters for films he was in. He did this in a number of notable films: Melvin and Howard, Roxanne, Scrooged, and many more — including House of 1000 Corpses.

But my favorite Pollard film is Four of the Apocalypse. It is also probably my favorite Western. He plays a weak drunk who can’t be counted on. But he’s ultimately a good guy. You can watch the whole thing at the link. If you haven’t seen it, I hope you do!

I know of only one film that Michael J Pollard starred in. But it’s a good one! Dirty Little Billy. It tells the story of the early days of Billy the Kid. Leslie Halliwell hated it (of course), but rightly noted that “it presents its hero as the mentally retarded delinquent which history says he was.”

So let’s celebrate Michael J Pollard’s birthday by watching Dirty Little Billy.

Other 30 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Howard Hawks (1896-1977): Director of tons of notable films. He directed one of my favorite non-psychotronic films, His Girl Friday. And, of course, he directed the classic The Thing From Another World.
• Mel Blanc (1908-1989): Voice actor known for voicing most of the iconic Warner Bros characters like Bugs Bunny.
• Clint Walker (1927-2018): Actor who worked a lot and played the title character in the long-running TV western Cheyenne.
• Keir Dullea (1936-): Actor known most as Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey. He also starred in Black Christmas.
• Mark Sheppard (1964-): Actor best known to me as Badger, the ruthless but insecure crime boss with a Cockney accent on Firefly.

Films

• Undersea Kingdom (1936): Atlantis-based serial.
• Fright (1972): A babysitter is attacked by the child’s insane father.
• Embrace of the Vampire (1995): Vampire romance.
• Wrong Turn (2003): College students get stranded in the woods and attacked.
• El Chupacabra (2003): Animal control officers find a gored dog and figure it is the title monster.
• Cemetery Gates (2006): A genetically modified Tasmanian Devil is on the loose.
• The Strangers (2008): Home invasion film.
• The Italian Job (2003): Heist film with none of the charm of the original.

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Michael J Pollard via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.