Behind the Scenes With My Favorite Actors: John Pankow in To Live and Die in L.A.

While I was watching the mostly excruciating Morning Glory over the weekend (my love for Rachel McAdams made me take a cinematic bullet with this one) I was reminded about how much I admire John Pankow. Pankow's scenes with McAdams are about the only saving grace to Morning Glory and they made me wish I could see him in more films. Pankow, who is probably best known for his terrific role as Ira on Mad About You, is one of those always under-the-radar guys who never delivers less than stellar work no matter the quality of the project. He was never better than in To Live and Die in L.A., in which he holds his own with the likes of William L. Petersen, Willem Dafoe and John Tuturro. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Pankow steals Billy Friedkin's brutal film with his haunting performance, and his final scene in it remains one of modern cinema's most powerful moments. So here's a little tribute in stills (that I captured from the special edition of To Live and Die in L.A.) to a terrific actor who has always deserved celebrating.