Larry Hankin

Larry Hankin (born 1937/1938) is an American character actor, performer, director, comedian, and producer. He is known for his major film roles as Charley Butts in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Ace in Running Scared (1986), and Carl Alphonse in Billy Madison (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobie in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Sergeant Larry Balzak in Home Alone, Mr. Heckles in Friends, and Joe in Breaking Bad and El Camino. Hankin grew up in a Jewish family in Far Rockaway, Queens. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School and Syracuse University, where he befriended Carl Gottlieb.[full citation needed][time needed] He was homeless at one point.[full citation needed][time needed] Hankin was an early member of the Second City, training with improvisational theater legends Viola Spolin and Paul Sills, and in 1963 moved to San Francisco to co-found another influential improv troupe, The Committee. His first notable supporting role was as Pt. Romero in Viva Max! in 1969.