Richard Kind gives brash characters a nasal insistence and a face already prepared for disappointment. We rate him highly as a supporting actor: he brings feeling and comic energy without pushing his colleagues aside.
Fi1m perspective
Richard Kind's hangdog expression takes some of the aggression out of his nasal delivery. He is good at playing brash people who are also hapless, and at letting us notice both qualities without labouring the joke. We recognise him quickly, but he does not require the rest of an ensemble to step aside. That consideration matters when an actor has such a conspicuous voice.
The sitcom years established that usefulness, with Dr. Mark Devanow in Mad About You (1992) and Paul Lassiter in Spin City (1996). Film work brought different opportunities for the same awkwardness. In the Coen brothers' A Serious Man (2009), he plays Arthur Gopnik, the troubled brother, putting his familiar air of defeat to dramatic use.
Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent (2003), in which he plays Louis Tiboni, is our clearest recommendation among these films. Peter Dinklage's watchfulness leads a comedy that leaves its actors room to earn the warmth of a reluctant friendship. We were moved by that watchfulness, which makes the growing companionship feel like something worth the effort. The plotting occasionally becomes too helpful, but McCarthy understands the pleasure of spending time with people before asking us to care about them. Kind is part of that company, not a special attraction the film has been arranged around.
His presence is less useful as a recommendation for Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid (2023), where he plays Dr. Cohen. Its first hour is funny and frightening, and Joaquin Phoenix is superb throughout. But the film loses its shape and asks for three hours, a substantial commitment for an admirer of someone in a supporting role. We would not recommend it simply on the strength of his name.
Inside Out (2015) gives us Kind without the hangdog expression: he voices the imaginary friend Bing Bong. The feeling in that performance is a useful reminder that the familiar sound can do more than deliver a joke. For anyone chiefly interested in Kind, start there.
Biography
Richard Kind is an American actor and comedian. Born on 22 November 1956 in Trenton, New Jersey, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1978 and began his career in Chicago with the Practical Theatre Company and Second City.
He is known for recurring television roles including Dr. Mark Devanow in Mad About You (1992–1999, 2019) and Paul Lassiter in Spin City (1996–2002), as well as Cousin Andy in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2002–2021). His voice work includes Bing Bong in Inside Out (2015), Bookworm in Toy Story 3 (2010), and characters in other Pixar films such as Cars (2006) and A Bug's Life (1998). On film he has appeared as Max Klein in Argo (2012), Arthur Gopnik in A Serious Man (2009), and Dr. Cohen in Beau Is Afraid (2023).
Kind has performed extensively on stage, making his Broadway debut in 1984. He received a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the 2013 revival of The Big Knife.
