Jon Polito

Jon Polito has long been admired for both his strong dramatic performances as well as his standout comedic work. In fact, at the time of his death, Jon had been asked to reprise his recurring role on the Emmy Award-winning Modern Family. Alongside an incredible comedy ensemble, Jon played the lovable but devious closet king 'Earl Chambers,' former best friend and business rival to Ed O'Neill. This noteworthy role was only a small fraction of a diverse and illustrious career that spanned genres and networks throughout the years.

Jon has appeared as a series regular on numerous series. He worked on the groundbreaking Crime Story and the critically acclaimed Homicide: Life On the Street for producer Tom Fontana. Additionally, he worked as a regular with the casts of Ohara, Hearts are Wild and The Chronicle.

Jon has appeared in well over a dozen recurring roles, each one richer than the next. He's worked for industry titan Steven Bochco on Murder In The First and Raising The Bar, in addition to other such notable and varied shows as Dream On, Bunheads, and countless others. Even Jon's one-off guest star performances displayed his range as a performer, including his turn as Danny Devito's brother 'Frank' on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the befuddled landlord Sylvio on the Seinfeld finale and his role as Rhonda, a woman, on The Chris Isaak Show. In fact, he just recently finished an episode of Major Crimes two months before his passing.

Jon's miniseries and MOW work was also extensive. He started his career as part of the Emmy-nominated Gangster Chronicles in 1981 and notably starred in the Tony winning revival of Death Of A Salesman alongside Dustin Hoffman, the telefilm of which aired on CBS.

Jon conquered every medium of television, and of course made outstanding contributions to film as well. Some of his most notable film roles include the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink, The Freshman with Marlon Brando, and most recently, Big Eyes for Tim Burton.