John Pankow Movies and Career Information

John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American film and stage actor. Pankow was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Marion, a homemaker, and Wayne Pankow, who worked in magazine advertising sales. He is the brother of James Pankow, trombonist and founding member of the band Chicago. He grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Maine South High School, and later Northeastern Illinois University for a short period of time. Pankow began in his career in the theater but worked mostly in TV and movies from 1981 to 2002. As of late 2004, he has returned to his roots as a stage actor, on Broadway in a revival of the play Twelve Angry Men. He is probably best remembered as Ira Buchman, Paul Reiser's cousin on the sitcom Mad About You.