Toby Radloff (born 12 December, 1957) is a former file clerk who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in
ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
writer
Harvey PekarHarvey Lawrence Pekar is an American underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical American Splendor series...
’s autobiographical comic book
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals...
. He works at the
Veterans AffairsVeterans Affairs is a term of the business that deals with the relation between a government and its veteran communities, usually administered by the designated government agency. It might refer to:*Department of Veterans' Affairs...
Medical Center in Cleveland. Radloff currently works as a courier. (Pekar has since retired; his actual retirement party was the final scene in the
American Splendor film. In the film, Radloff is seen bringing in the cake to Pekar's party.)
Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms. He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine
NerdNerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities...
," and is proud of it.
Toby Radloff (born 12 December, 1957) is a former file clerk who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in
ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
writer
Harvey PekarHarvey Lawrence Pekar is an American underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical American Splendor series...
’s autobiographical comic book
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals...
. He works at the
Veterans AffairsVeterans Affairs is a term of the business that deals with the relation between a government and its veteran communities, usually administered by the designated government agency. It might refer to:*Department of Veterans' Affairs...
Medical Center in Cleveland. Radloff currently works as a courier. (Pekar has since retired; his actual retirement party was the final scene in the
American Splendor film. In the film, Radloff is seen bringing in the cake to Pekar's party.)
Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms. He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine
NerdNerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities...
," and is proud of it. He publicly came out as
gayHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
after the release of the
American Splendor film in 2003.
Radloff met Pekar in 1980 when Radloff was hired at the VA Hospital, and soon became a recurring character in
American Splendor. Radloff starred in such stories as "Lentils and Lent" (illustrated by Sean Carroll), "Double Feature Part 1:
Footloose, Starring Toby Radloff" and "Double Feature Part 2:
Revenge of the Nerds," (both illustrated by Bill Knapp), "Toby Saves the Day," (illustrated by Ed Wesolowski), and "Hollywood Reporter" and "Reduction" (both illustrated by
Josh NeufeldJosh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his fact-based comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and David Greenberger.-Biography and Career Highlights:Neufeld graduated from the High School...
).
His appearances in
American Splendor eventually led Radloff to starring in a series of
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
segments throughout the 1980s, and acting in filmmaker
Wayne Alan HaroldWayne Alan Harold is an underground filmmaker from northeastern Ohio.Upon graduation from Kent State University in 1988, Harold formed a video production company with high school friend Mark Steven Bosko...
's low budget, cult horror films
Killer Nerd,
Bride of Killer Nerd, and
Townies. He also appeared on the cable access program
The Eddie Marshall Show. He became a local celebrity for his takes on nerd topics such as cheese, yo-yos, hamburgers, the Internet, world politics and being a nerd.
In the 2003 film
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a 2003 biopic about Harvey Pekar, the author of the American Splendor comic book series. The film is also in part an adaptation of the comics, which dramatize Pekar's life. The film was written and directed by documentarians Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who share...
, the award-winning film adaptation of Pekar’s comic, Radloff is played by
Judah FriedlanderJudah Friedlander is an American comedian and actor, known for his trademark trucker's hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in most of his screen roles.-Life and career:...
, and also appears as himself in the documentary sections of the film.
On August 3, 2006, Radloff tried out to be the next "Wack Packer" on The Howard Stern Show, but lost in the finals because Stern and crew felt that he was too famous.
Radloff and Wayne Alan Harold were among the first artists signed to the Turner Broadcasting online comedy site
SuperDeluxe.com. Harold produced segments of
The Wayne and Toby Show and
Super Deluxe Revue, both of which featured Radloff. Radloff also supplied the title character's voice for the Lance Myers animated series
The Ted Zone. SuperDeluxe was recently folded into Turner's
AdultSwim.com. Wayne and Toby are currently creating all-new comedy videos for Lurid.com.
Radloff currently lives in
Berea, OhioBerea is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburb of Cleveland. The population was 18,970 at the 2000 census. Berea is home to Baldwin-Wallace College and the training facility for the Cleveland Browns....
.
External links