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Michael J. Pollard

American actor (1939–2019)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ730270
Source-derived summary

Michael John Pollard (born Michael John Pollack Jr.; May 30, 1939 – November 20, 2019) was an American character actor. With his distinctive bulbous nose, dimpled chin and smirk, he gained a cult following, usually portraying quirky, off-beat, simplistic but likeable supporting characters. He was best known for his role as C. W. Moss, in the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which earned him critical acclaim along with nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Other notable appearances include The Wild Angels (1966), Hannibal Brooks (1969), Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), Dirty Little Billy (1972), Roxanne (1987), American Gothic (1988), and Tango & Cash (1989).

Early life

Pollard was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and brought up in the nearby North Jersey communities of Garfield and Clifton. He was the son of Sonia V. (née Dubanowich) and Michael John Pollack, a bar manager. His parents were both of Polish descent. His mother was born in New York, and his father was born in New Jersey. Pollard's father supported his wife and Michael Jr. by working 60 hours a week as a barman at O'Rourke's Tap Room.

Editorial summary

“Michael J. Pollard” enters the record as american actor (1939–2019). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Michael, Pollard and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1939, 2019, 1967, 1966—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1939-05-30, 1939-01-01—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Michael, Pollard and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Michael J. Pollard” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Michael, Pollard and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q730270. VIAF identifies the subject as 24801035. The Library of Congress control number is n88226404. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939, 2019, 1967 and 1966.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Michael J. Pollard”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Michael J. Pollard primary sources, Michael J. Pollard archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Michael J. Pollard”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Michael J. Pollard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.