Background
Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His father was Hungarian.
Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His father was Hungarian.
University of Southern California.
Pataki was so well loved that at a reception for the theatre group acclaimed English actor Laurence Harvey, whom Pataki had never met, said he was magnificent and gave him a kiss on the mouth. Pataki had appeared in numerous television productions, from the black and white days of Playhouse 90, The Twilight Zone, Ripcord and My Favorite Martian, to early color shows like The Flying Nun, Bonanza, All in the Family, Batman (episodes 41 and 42), Mannix, and The Green Hornet. One of his most famous roles was as "Korax", the loudmouthed Klingon who started the bar fight in "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of Star Trek.
He was also the voice of The Cow in Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (along with many other secondary characters).
Pataki played a guest spot on Happy Days Season 4 as Myron "Count" Malachi, one half of the Malachi Brothers. He was made famous on Happy Days for his line "Let the pigeons loose".
Pataki"s early films included Easy Rider (1969), The Sidehackers (1969) and The Andromeda Strain (1971). His many other film credits included Airport "77 (1977), Superdome (1978), When Every Day Was the Fourth of July (1978), The Pirate (1978), Love at First Bite (1979), The Onion Field (1979), The Glove (1979), Disaster on the Coastliner (1979), Raise the Titanic (1980), High Noon, Participant II: The Return of Will Kane (1980), Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985), American Anthem (1986) and The Underachievers (1987).
He also appeared in Rocky IV (1985), as Nicoli Koloff, the sports administrator for the Soviet team
Pataki has also had his fair share of B-movie roles in titles such as The Last Porno Flick (1974), Carnal Madness aka Delinquent Schoolgirls (1975) with George Buck Flower and Colleen Brennan, and others In Dracula"s Dog (1978), he played opposite Reggie Nalder and José Ferrer as a descendant of Dracula who is stalked by a vampiric Doberman Pinscher. Other horror titles include The Return of Count Yorga (1971), Grave of the Vampire (1972), The Baby (1973), The Bat People (1974), Graduation Day (1981), Dead and Buried (1981), Sweet Sixteen (1983) and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).
He also directed Richard Basehart in Mansion of the Doomed (1976).
He attended the University of Southern California with a double major in Political Science and Drama. His career was launched at a summer stock festival in Edinburgh in 1966, with a review that read, "Michael Pataki went beyond the bounds of mere nationality in his tense and moving interpretation of Jerry in Zoo Story".