Biography
Victor Tayback (January 6, 1930 – May 25, 1990) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as diner owner Mel Sharples in the comedy-drama film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and the television sitcom Alice (1976–1985), for which he won two consecutive Golden Globes.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Horseplayer
1990
as George Samsa
A blonde seduces a quirky liquor-store worker as inspiration for her artist boyfriend.

All Dogs Go to Heaven
1989
as Carface (voice)
When a casino-owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven basically by default since all dogs go to heaven. ...

Beverly Hills Bodysnatchers
1989
as Lou
A doctor and a mortician have teamed up to do re-animation experiments on corpses using gangster money loaned for "remodeling." When they can't pay it...

Criminal Act
1989
as The Exterminator (Greengrass)
Two investigative reporters track down reports of giant rats in a city sewer system.

Loverboy
1989
as Harry Bruckner
Randy Bodek works as a pizza delivery boy at Señor Pizza to make a few extra bucks. Some customers are special, though: When the order is for a pizza ...

The Underachievers
1988
as Coach
Danny Warren is a former minor-league shortstop that becomes a narc to uncover drug dealing in this situation comedy. Investigating at a high-school a...

The Three Kings
1987
as Harold
The made-for-TV film stars Jack Warden, Lou Diamond Phillips and Stan Shaw as three patients in a Los Angeles-area mental institution. Dressed as the ...

Weekend Warriors
1986
as Sgt. Burdge
In 1961, with war looming in Berlin, an Air National Guard unit of actors, journalists and studio personnel is up for military academy consideration.

George Carlin: Playin' with Your Head
1986
as The Bad Guys
George Carlin is in top form with these stand-up recorded at the Beverly Theater in Los Angeles in 1986. Routines included are "Losing Things," "Chari...

Treasure Island
1986
as Silver
Jim is a small child who lives in an inn run by his parents. The arrival of a strange captain to the Island they live will trouble his existence and t...

Reel Horror
1985
as Smedke (archive footage)
Evil spirits that emerge from cans of old movie film terrorize a neighborhood.

The New Man
1984
as Alan Coombs
A reformed alcoholic is visited by his young son, but he doesn't have a son called Jerry.

The Jesse Owens Story
1984
as Abe Saperstein
The Jesse Owens Story is a biographical film about the black athlete Jesse Owens. Dorian Harewood plays the Olympic gold-winning athlete. The drama wo...

Mysterious Two
1982
as Ted Randall
Two Aliens visit the Earth in an effort to enlist converts to travel the universe with them.
Through the Magic Pyramid
1981
as Horembeb
A lad finds himself magically sent back to ancient Egypt where he and the young King Tut team up to stop their evil and overly ambitious elders.

The Night the City Screamed
1980
as Morris Brustein
A massive blackout plunges a major American city into a night of terror.

Gridlock
1980
as Floyd 'Snake' Kraslowski
A series of freak accidents on the Los Angeles freeway traps a cast-load of familiar TV faces in an astounding traffic tie-up, with the entire system ...

Rage!
1980
as Tommy
In an attempt to be rehabilitated, a rapist goes to therapy while in prison.

This Year's Blonde
1980
as Harry Cohn
First he seduced her. Then he made her a star. He was Johnny Hyde, 52-year-old agent, friend, lover. She was an unemployed starlet — destined to be Am...

Portrait of a Stripper
1979
as Harry Parkins
A young widow, supporting herself and her pre-teen son by performing as a nightclub dancer, finds the place turned into a strip joint and learns that ...

The Cheap Detective
1978
as Lieutenant DiMaggio
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of...

Getting Married
1978
as Burt Carboni
A man falls madly in love with a pretty newscaster and goes all out to win her heart and her hand in marriage before she weds another man.

The Case of the Baltimore Girls
1978
as Capt. Barney Marcus
Former police captain and his assistant investigate extortion and murder at a dating service.

The Choirboys
1977
as Zoony
A group of Los Angeles cops decide to take off some of the pressures of their jobs by engaging in various forms of after-hours debauchery.

Little Ladies of the Night
1977
as Finch
The sister of ex-pimp and current Los Angeles Police detective Lyle York was murdered working the streets a few years ago. Since his reform, he has te...

The Shaggy D.A.
1976
as Eddie Roschak
Wilby Daniels, a successful lawyer running for District Attorney, suddenly finds himself being transformed into an English sheepdog. Somehow he has to...

Mansion of the Doomed
1976
as Detective Simon
An insane surgeon finds himself up to his armpits in eyeballs after guilt prompts him to begin removing the eyes of abducted people in hopes of perfor...

Special Delivery
1976
as Wyatt
A gang of thieves plan a daring bank robbery, making their escape across the rooftops of Los Angeles. The police are quickly called in, however, and o...

The Big Bus
1976
as Goldie
The ultimate disaster film parody. A nuclear-powered bus is making its maiden non-stop trip from New York to Denver. The journey is plagued by disaste...

No Deposit, No Return
1976
as Big Joe Adamo
Two rich children devise a way to escape their grandfather and visit their mother. Unfortunately for two hapless safe crackers, they become part of th...

Dark Victory
1976
as Archie
A TV producer with a terminal illness is given the strength to keep going by her love for her doctor.

The Black Bird
1975
as Warren Finley, Police Lieutenant
The son of famous detective Sam Spade carries on the family tradition of getting involved with the Maltese Falcon - and with the people who will stop ...

Lepke
1975
as Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
Lepke is the feared leader of "Murder Incorporated" in this underworld drama based on the life of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. Lepke began his criminal ca...

Report to the Commissioner
1975
as Lt. Seidensticker
Police officer Patty Butler, alias "Chicklet," is the live-in girlfriend of Thomas 'Stick' Henderson to gather evidence. Detective Bo Lockley is instr...

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974
as Mel
After her husband dies, Alice and her son, Tommy, leave their small New Mexico town for California, where Alice hopes to make a new life for herself a...

The Gambler
1974
as One
New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling add...

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974
as Mario Pinski
With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organise a daring new heist.

Papillon
1973
as Sergeant
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his esca...

The Don Is Dead
1973
as Ralph Negri
After his mistress is murdered, a Mafia leader goes after the killer with a bloody vengeance. Soon after the hunt begins, a gang war ensues.

The Blue Knight
1973
as Neil Grogan
Bumper Morgan is a veteran Los Angeles Police Department street cop. He is due to retire after 20 years on the job, but is not letting up on the crimi...

The Alpha Caper
1973
as Policeman
A parole officer forced into retirement gets together three ex-convicts to pull off a $30-million armored car robbery.

Emperor of the North
1973
as Yardman
Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.

Partners in Crime
1973
A retired judge who opens a private detective agency and her ex-con associate try to track down $750,000 in bank robbery loot.

Honor Thy Father
1973
as Don A. Tirello
Joseph Bologna stars as Bill Bonanno in this made-for-television adaptation of the controversial bestseller from Gay Talese, chronicling the rise of N...

Maxie
1973
as Smedke
When deaf-mute Maxie (K.T. Baumann) goes to work at the local butcher shop, she senses strange things are afoot. When she discovers the beloved town b...

Death Follows a Psycho
1972
Private eye Wade Griffin finds himself in an intense stand-off with a "human time-bomb", who is holding four people hostage and will kill them all unl...

They Call It Murder
1971
as Jeff Poland
A small-town district attorney is saddled with several major investigations, including a gambler's murder and a possible insurance scam.

Blood and Lace
1971
as Calvin Carruthers
After her prostitute mother and her john are beaten to death while they are asleep in bed, teen-aged Ellie Masters is sent to an isolated orphanage ru...

Bullitt
1968
as Pete Ross
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in pro...

Gambit
1966
as Plainclothes Officer at TWA Counter (uncredited)
Harry Dean is a career burglar set on stealing a piece of priceless art from the world's wealthiest man, Mr. Shahbandar. With the help of exotic showg...

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
1966
as Detective Merchant (uncredited)
A sophisticated con man mounts an intricate plan to rob an airport bank while the Soviet premier is due to arrive.

Love with the Proper Stranger
1963
as Cye (uncredited)
Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz m...

Surftide 77
1962
as Arms Cooper
Private Eye Bernard Bingbang is hired by old lady Agatha Bungworthy to find her runaway niece Cynthia, heir to the family fortune, before that fortune...

Five Minutes to Live
1961
as Fred Dorella
A guitar playing killer terrorizes a housewife while his partner robs the bank where her husband works.

Gangster Story
1959
as Norm (uncredited)
Gangster and cop killer Jack Martin is on the run from the law, and hides out in a small town. Low on funds, he engineers a clever bank robbery that y...

T-Bird Gang
1959
as Policeman
Cooperating with the police in order to revenge his father's death, Frank joins a youth syndicate master-minded by the sadistic Alex. When members bec...