Biography
Joshua Elias Mostel (born December 21, 1946) is an American actor with numerous film and Broadway credits. The son of Zero Mostel, he is best known for his supporting roles in films such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), Sophie's Choice (1982), City Slickers (1991), Billy Madison (1995), and Big Daddy (1999).
Known For
Complete Filmography

Bad Shabbos
2025
as Saul
An engaged interfaith couple are about to have their parents meet for the first time over a Shabbat dinner when an accidental manslaughter gets in the...

Dead Layer
2019
as Moishe
A visionary graffiti artist tries to go straight but gets caught up in a terrible crime.

Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
2019
as Self
The origin story behind one of Broadway's most beloved musicals, Fiddler on The Roof, and its creative roots in early 1960s New York, when "tradition"...

The Congressman
2016
as Bernie Gimpel
Maine Congressman Charlie Winship has had a bad day. After being caught on video failing to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance, he knocks out a...

Superstars: The Documentary
2015
In 1971, director Norman Jewison took a group of young actors, singers, and dancers to war-torn Israel to shoot the film adaptation of the hit rock op...

Growing Up and Other Lies
2014
as Chuck MacArthur
After living for years as a struggling artist in New York City, Jake is calling it quits and returning home to Ohio. On his last day in the city, he p...

Beneath the Harvest Sky
2013
as Principal
During harvest break, Casper is drawn into smuggling drugs across the Canadian border with his outlaw father, Clayton. Meanwhile, Dominic works his fi...

State of Play
2009
as Pete
When a congressional aide is killed, a Washington, D.C. journalist starts investigating the case involving the Representative, his old college friend.

Knockaround Guys
2001
as Mac McCreadle
Four sons of well-known New York mobsters must retrieve a bag of cash from a small Montana town ruled by a corrupt sheriff.

Big Daddy
1999
as Arthur Brooks
A lazy law school grad adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend, but everything doesn't go as planned and he becomes the unlikely foster father.

The Out-of-Towners
1999
as Dr. Faber
The adventures of married couple Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for Henry's job interview.

Rounders
1998
as Zagosh
A young reformed gambler must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks.

Thicker Than Blood
1998
as Kendall
Griffin Byrne is the idealistic new history, English and maths teacher in Father Frank Larkin's school in a mainly Latino ghetto neighborhood where mo...

Great Expectations
1998
as Jerry Ragno
Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and t...

The Maddening
1996
as Chicky Ross
David and Cassie Osborne have an argument one night. So the next morning after David goes to work, Cassie runs off to her sister's house for a few day...

Let It Be Me
1995
as Jordan
Right after getting engaged, a man starts taking dance lessons.

The Basketball Diaries
1995
as Counterman
A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Billy Madison
1995
as Principal Max Anderson
Billy Madison is the 27 year-old son of Bryan Madison, a very rich man who has made his living in the hotel industry. Billy stands to inherit his fath...

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
1994
as Barry Shalowitz
Mitch Robbins' 40th birthday begins quite well until he returns home and finds his brother Glen, the black sheep of the family, in his sofa. Neverthel...
Bye Bye America
1994
as Abe
The mis-adventures of three Polish-Jews on the road to Gdansk is the basis for this German comedy that was filmed in New York, Germany, and Poland. Ge...

The Chase
1994
as Officer Figus
Jack Hammond is sentenced to life in prison, but manages to escape. To get away from the police he takes a girl as hostage and drives off in her car. ...
Tracey Ullman Takes on New York
1993
Tracey Ullman and her wacky cast of characters take a bite out of the Big Apple.

Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993
as Chess Club Regular
A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

Nervous Ticks
1992
as Saul Warshow
A comedy about a man (Bill Pullman), who is on the run after his mistress (Julie Brown) confesses to her husband (Peter Boyle) that the two of them ha...

City of Hope
1991
as Mad Anthony
This gritty inner-city film follows various people living in a troubled New Jersey setting, most notably Nick Rinaldi, a disillusioned contractor who ...

Little Man Tate
1991
as Physics Professor
Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the ...

City Slickers
1991
as Barry Shalowitz
Three New York businessmen decide to take a "Wild West" vacation that turns out not to be the relaxing vacation they had envisioned.

Naked Tango
1990
as Bertoni the Jeweler
When a young European woman assumes a false identity in 1920s Argentina, she gets more than she bargained for.

Animal Behavior
1989
as Mel Gorsky
Biologist Alex Brisco develops a new method to communicate with chimpanzees. Instead of using machines, she teaches the chimps simple sign language. H...

Heavy Petting
1989
as Self
Celebrities and creatives -- including musician David Byrne, performance artist Spalding Gray, comedian Sandra Bernhard, radical activist Abbie Hoffma...

Wall Street
1987
as Ollie
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthles...

Matewan
1987
as Mayor Cabell Testerman
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Keneh...

Radio Days
1987
as Abe
The Narrator tells us how the radio influenced his childhood in the days before TV. In the New York City of the late 1930s to the New Year's Eve 1944,...

The Money Pit
1986
as Jack Schnittman
After being evicted from their Manhattan apartment, a couple buy what looks like the home of their dreams—only to find themselves saddled with a bank-...

Stoogemania
1985
as Howard F. Howard
The film centers on Howard F. Howard, an overweight everyman. Engaged to Beverly, the woman of his dreams, Howard has one problem - an overactive fixa...

Compromising Positions
1985
as Dicky Dunck
An ex-newspaper woman who is now a suburban housewife can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who ha...

Almost You
1985
as David
Alex and Erica Boyer are a young couple in crisis. Alex, despite his loving wife, beautiful home and high-paying job, feels trapped. When Erica has an...

The Boy Who Loved Trolls
1984
as Wiseman
Paul feels life should be an adventure, and sets out on one to prove that Trolls really exist.

Windy City
1984
as Sol
The lives of a group of young Chicago men, as seen through the eyes of one of them, a writer.

The Brother from Another Planet
1984
as Casio Vendor
An alien slave crash-lands in New York City while being pursued by two Men in Black bounty hunters. His attempt to find a place for himself on Earth p...

Star 80
1983
as Private Detective
Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes when he meets Dorothy Stratten working behind the...

Sophie's Choice
1982
as Morris Fink
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns...

Fighting Back
1982
as Duster
An Italian deli owner forms a vigilante group to rid his Philadelphia neighborhood of street punks.

Dead Ringer
1981
as Russell
Part fiction, part documentary. Dead Ringer was created as a promotional tie-in to Meat Loaf's album of the same name, which was his follow-up to the ...

The Money
1976
as Wheel-of-Fortune Operator
A prominent businessman's children become the target of a young, unemployed man, who sees them as his ticket to wealth.

Deadly Hero
1975
as Victor
Officer Lacy is an 18-year veteran of the New York Police Department who finds himself demoted from detective back to patrol duty for his violent tend...

Harry and Tonto
1974
as Norman Coombes
Harry is a retired teacher in his 70s who has lived in the Upper West Side of New York City all his life. When his building is torn down to make way f...

Jesus Christ Superstar
1973
as King Herod
As played out by a theatre troupe, the last days of Jesus Christ are depicted from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus' followin...

The King of Marvin Gardens
1972
as Frank
Jason Staebler lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is a dreamer who asks his brother David, a radio personality f...

...And Then It Happened
1972
as Wally
The film "And Then It Happened" follows two school bus drivers known for their safety records. During routine rides, a series of distractions and misb...

Going Home
1971
as Bonelli
After doing 13 years in prison for the murder of his wife, mechanic Harry Graham is out on parole and looking to rebuild his life in a small seaside c...