John studied liberal arts at Lehman College and attended acting classes at Carnegie Hall. His teacher, Robert X. Modica, also taught John Turturro, David Duchovny and Rachel Ward. John received his first acting job because of Robert De Niro, who cast him in the film A Bronx Tale. John has been very lucky to work with some great actors, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Argo, Jeremy Irons, Jon Cryer and Eric Roberts. He also worked with some great directors, Brian De Palma, Woody Allen, John McTiernan, Abel Ferrara and Fred Gallo. In addition to acting, John produces independent films with his partner Fred Gallo. Mr. Gallo graduated from the world renowned film school at USC. Two of their films, I am Woody and The Don of 42nd Street won awards in The New York International Film Festival for Best Film and Best Actor.
One of a long list of actors and crew who worked on the film The Conqueror that died from cancer some years later, including John Wayne , Susan Hayward , Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendriz , who was the first to contract cancer and committed suicide rather than face the horror of it.
Had several guest appearances on the situation comedy "Hogans Heroes" . He mostly played a high-ranking German Officer in the series, but never the same role twice.
In 1937, he performed (as John Hoysradt) at the prestigious Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. He headlined as the Master of Satire.
He was the television spokesperson in a series of Midas Muffler commercials in the 1960s.
In his early years of performing, he put together a nightclub act doing impressions of famous celebrities. His impersonation of Nol Coward was so good that he was hired for the original Broadway comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner" in 1939, in which he played Beverley Carlton, a role obviously based on Coward himself.
One of the very few actors to have appeared on both the original "Star Trek" series and the original "Battlestar Galactica" .
He first performed comedy routines in nightclubs before making his bow on stage in the late 1920s. He made his Broadway debut followed in 1930 with the play "Overture", under his original name John Hoysradt. He was a member of the Mercury Theater from 1937 until called up for military service in 1945. Thin-lipped and silver-haired hard-case or villain of many a 1960s or 1970s television episode.
Attended and graduated from Yale University, where he served on the editorial board of campus humor magazine "The Yale Record".
His last screen role was as the crusty Grandpa Stanley Kanisky on Nell Carter s situation comedy "Gimme a Break!" .
John Hoyt passed away on September 15, 1991, only three weeks from what would have been his 86th birthday on October 5.
He was dubbed by Paul Frees in several scenes in Spartacus .
(from Starlog magazine, 1986) I like keeping busy. Satan finds work for,idle hands.
