Who is that guy? Oh, its Ricky Jay!

Ricky Jay is easily one of my favorite people in entertainment that few people have probably even heard of. He is a renaisance man of sorts, the sorts being that of vast amounts of knowledge in things outside the box and far from mainstream. Ricky Jay, amongst other things, is a master of slight of hand, a master thrower of playing cards, an immensely intimidating walking encyclopedia of all things odd and bizarre and, of course … a terrifically entertaining character actor.

Ricky Jay got his start in movies as an actor through David Mamet, playing a con-man named George (aka Vegas Man) in Mamet’s first film House of Games (1987). After which, Ricky Jay would become a regular in Mamet’s films, following Games with roles as Mr. Silver in Mamet’s Things Change (1988) and as Aaron in Mamet’s Homocide (1991).

Ricky would do a few TV gigs before returning to work with Mamet as George Lang in The Spanish Prisoner (1997). Would Ricky ever do any non-Mamet films? Yep. He appears as Kurt Longjohn in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997). A relatively busy year is finished out with his portrayal of a Bond bad guy named Henry Gupta in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

Ricky has a tendency to get cast as con-men and slick-talkers, but occasionally he’ll be fit into something a little different like his role as Victor Weems in Mystery Men (1999). Returning ti work with Paul Thomas Anderson, Ricky would double up on Magnolia (1999) to play Burt Ramsey and serve as the narrator. He, of course, joins forces again with Mamet as Jack in State and Main (2000). Other notable performances:

Dawson’s Auctioneer in Heartbreakers (2001)
Don “Pinky” Pincus in Mamet’s Heist (2001)
Eddie Sawyer in the HBO series Deadwood
Milton in The Prestige (2006)
Marty Brown in Mamet’s Redbelt (2008)