Stephen Tobolowsky is so damn cool!

By April MacIntyre May 29, 2006, 18:33 GMT

If you celebrate only one birthday this year... make sure it\'s Stephen Tobolowsky\'s ...more

To help celebrate the release of "Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party" DVD on May 30th, M&C staff writer April MacIntyre talked with Tobolowsky in an exclusive interview.

Not many people can claim to be the "epicurean nemesis" of the late President Ronald Reagan -  denied a table at two high profile restaurants within a two year period, in Washington D.C. and Helsinki, because the sunny, smiling leader of the western world chose those particular bistros too -  but actor / writer Stephen Tobolowsky can.

This is one of Tobolowsky's stories that we witness in his May 30th DVD release "Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party".  In his debut film, Robert Brinkmann, the German born cinematographer turned director, shares Stephen's gift of storytelling in only the way a true friend could; cherry picking the "best of the best" stories that cover every conceivable emotional range, without the histrionics, effects, or artifice that assaults us with summer fare.  This is a quiet film to savor, with warm light used in the interiors of Tobolowsky's own home where he is feted by friends at his birthday supper, complimenting the intimacy of the piece.

Tobolowsky opens the film with a new birthday "miracle" at a beach. Stephen tells us, "A friend of mine, Bob, told me I should go and be somewhere 'elemental' on my birthday."  He recounts a Cabo birthday trip years ago, daringly swimming far out into the sea, only to be interrupted by an approaching fin cutting though the water.  It turned out to be "Flipper", not a shark.  The story is capped by the unscripted appearance of dolphins frolicking in the waves offshore.

Stephen was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended Southern Methodist University, and completed his Master's degree in acting from the University of Illinois.   As an undergrad at SMU he made his first film.  His early days in Texas were not uneventful.  "I had recorded an album 'New High' with a new guitarist in our band, a 14-year-old Stevie Ray Vaughan,"  Stephen told me over breakfast at the "Four and Twenty" in Studio City recently.  "Our band was one of the top five garage bands in Dallas at that time, we even played some Mormon Rock-n-Roll Parties," muses Stephen, remembering they (Mormons) weren't a very expressive audience.  "Kind of dull, actually."

Most people instantly remember Tobolowsky's irrepressible insurance salesman "Ned Ryerson", who had some of the best lines in Harold Ramis's Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. It was Tobolowsky's "verve", a characterization used years earlier by a critic to describe another of Stephen's performances, that made his "Ned" so memorable, and one of his personal favorites.

Tobolowsky's acting credits are wide ranging, from playing KKK chieftain Clayton Townley in director Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning, to other notable performances in films such as Thelma & Louise, Basic Instinct, The Radioland Murders, Adaptation, and in 2000, Christopher Nolan's Memento – a film where many critics, peers and film makers feel Tobolwsky's amnesiac character "Sammy Jankis" steals the movie.

In "Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party", the birthday boy poses a question that has terrified him since he was an aspiring scientist in his "Mr. Wizard" elementary school days. "What happens to a flame when you blow it out?"   He underscores his "Ode to Bob" story with this metaphor, and belief in energy's perpetuity.  Tobolowsky revels in retelling his personal journey from college to his "Westward Ho" to Los Angeles, with quirky happenstances, death-defying detours and defining moments seasoning his life and career.

Stephen is currently heading to New Mexico to play the Sheriff in Walt Becker's "Wild Hogs" with Bill Macy, John Travolta and Tim Allen.  He is also in development talks to direct a film project, " Love, Marriage and Marilyn Monroe" penned by Susan Baskin in 2007.  Cool enough?

Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD's database for more information.