Joe Turkel


Joe Turkel is an American actor.

Early life

Turkel was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 16 years old, he joined the United States Army and served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.

Career

His most famous roles are Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the eccentric god-figure in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and Lloyd, the ghostly bartender in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. He is one of only two actors to work with Kubrick as a credited character three times, in The Killing, in Paths of Glory, and in The Shining.
His first film appearance was 1948's City Across the River. Other film appearances include Bert I. Gordon's The Boy and the Pirates as Abu the Genie, and Tormented ; as a gangster-sidekick in The Purple Gang; a prisoner of war named Dino in King Rat; The Sand Pebbles as Bronson; The St. Valentine's Day Massacre as Chicago gangster Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik; and the 1990 horror feature The Dark Side of the Moon.
On November 13, 1956, Turkel appeared on the ABC/Desilu western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as Jim Rellance, a young Texas cowhand who is infatuated with Dora Hand, a dance hall singer in Dodge City, Kansas.
Turkel's other television appearances include Sky King, Frontier Doctor, U.S. Marshal, The Asphalt Jungle, Mackenzie's Raiders, Kojak, Tales from the Darkside, and Miami Vice. He played the creepy janitor in the season 5 episode, "And Then There was Shawn" of Boy Meets World.
He also appeared on Bonanza three times, including the 1961 episode "The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch", playing one of two of Bullet Head Burke's right-hand men, the other played by Robert "Bobby" Jordan.
In 1999 he lived in southern California and wrote screenplays.
He said in a 2014 interview that Paths of Glory was the favorite among his films.

Political views

When he attended a 2014 rally in "Occupy Seattle", he referred to himself as a "Liberal Progressive Democrat".

Filmography