debut of the play, 8—a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage—as Judge Vaughn Walker. The production was held at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. In January 2016, Balaban appeared in the short play Milton Bradley by Peter Sagal, for Playing On Air, a non-profit organization that "records short plays [for public radio and podcast] written by top playwrights and performed by outstanding actors." In early 2021, Balaban provided the voice of the narrator in The Simpsons episode “The Dad-Feelings Limited”. Writing career Balaban wrote a series of six children's novels featuring a bionic dog named McGrowl. He also co-authored Spielberg, Truffaut & Me: An Actor's Diary with Steven Spielberg and The Creature from the Seventh Grade: Sink or Swim (Creature from the Seventh Grade, #2) which Andy Rash illustrated. He also wrote the book, Close Encounters of the Third Kind Diary. Personal life Balaban is married to Lynn Grossman; they have two daughters. He resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, New York. Filmography Film Television Director Theatre Podcasts Awards and nominations {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Project ! Result |- |2001 || Academy Awards || Best Picture || rowspan=2|Gosford Park || |- |2001 || British Academy Film Awards || Outstanding British Film || |- |2009 || Golden Globe Awards || Best Miniseries or Television Film || Bernard and Doris || |- |rowspan=3|2008 || rowspan=4|Primetime Emmy Awards || Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie || Recount || |- |Outstanding Television Movie || rowspan=2|Bernard and Doris || |- |rowspan=2|Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie || |- |2010 || Georgia O'Keeffe || |- |1979 || Tony Awards || Best Featured Actor in a Play || The Inspector General || |- |2001 || rowspan=2|Screen Actors Guild Awards || rowspan=2|Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture || Gosford Park || |- |2005 || Capote || |- |} Further reading Balaban, David. The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz, Arcadia Publishing, 2006 Balaban, Bob. Spielberg, Truffaut & Me: An Actor's Diary'', Titan Books, 1978 (revised 2002) References External links Bob Balaban interview on AMC-TV's Sci-Fi Department web show 1945 births Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish