I was very much in my room with my marionette stage, you know, creating these incredibly boring things that I felt were so fascinating, and forcing my relatives to come, and charging money for them to see my little productions.

In 2010 Balaban appeared as Judge Clayton Horn the real-life judge who presided over the obscenity trial of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Bookstore in the movie Howl. H & E Balaban Corporation operated their own movie palaces including the Esquire Theatre in Chicago. In 1999 Balaban made a guest appearance in the sitcom Friends as Phoebe Buffay's father Frank in "The One With Joey's Bag".

Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban (born August 16 1945) is an American actor author producer and director.