Robert Wuhl (born October 9, 1951) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series Arliss (1996–2002) and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Larry in Bull Durham (1988).
Early life Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His father worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Wuhl was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater in April 2012.
Career Wuhl's first role in movies was a starring role in the 1980 comedy The Hollywood Knights along with other fledgling actors Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Fran Drescher, followed by a small role in the film Flashdance (1983). Wuhl had larger roles in films including Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) with Robin Williams, Bull Durham (1988) with Kevin Costner, Tim Burton's 1989 Batman (as reporter Alexander Knox) with Michael Keaton, Blaze (1989) with Paul Newman, Missing Pieces (1991) with Eric Idle, Mistress (1992) with Robert De Niro, Blue Chips (1994) with Nick Nolte, and Cobb (1994) with Tommy Lee Jones. He wrote two of the six episodes for the TV series Police Squad! in 1982 and did an audio commentary for its release on DVD in 2006.
He appeared with Keith Carradine in the 1985 music video to Madonna's "Material Girl". In 1992, he appeared in The Bodyguard as host of the Oscars. Wuhl won two Emmy Awards for co-writing the Academy Awards in 1990 and 1991 with Billy Crystal, Bruce Vilanch, David Steinberg, and others.
From 1996 to 2002, he wrote and starred in the HBO series Arliss as the title character, an agent for high-profile athletes. From 2000 to 2001, he was a frequent panelist on the ESPN game show 2 Minute Drill, often quizzing the contestants on sports-related movies.
In 2006, he starred on HBO in a one-man show, Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl, where he taught a history class to show how history is created and propagated in a similar fashion to pop culture. A second chapter entitled Assume the Position 201 with Mr. Wuhl aired on HBO in July 2007.
Wuhl hosted a sports, sports business, and entertainment daily talk-radio show, for Westwood One from January through December 2011. Wuhl occasionally fills in for Boomer Esiason on the Boomer and Carton show.
Wuhl played Herb Tucker in a revival of Neil Simon's play I Ought to Be in Pictures. In 2017, he appeared with Don Most in another Simon play, The Sunshine Boys, at Judson Theatre Company.
Wuhl has appeared as himself in four episodes of American Dad!—the 2015 episode "Manhattan Magical Murder Mystery Tour", the 2017 episode "The Talented Mr. Dingleberry", the 2019 episode "One-Woman Swole", and the 2021 episode "Cry Baby".
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 The Hollywood Knights Newbomb Turk 1983 Flashdance Mawby's Regular 1987 Good Morning, Vietnam Marty Lee Dreiwitz 1988 Bull Durham Larry Hockett 1989 Batman Alexander Knox Wedding Band Waiter Blaze Red Snyder 1991 Missing Pieces Lou Wimpole 1992 Mistress Marvin Landisman The Bodyguard Oscar Host 1993 Sandman Victor Giles 1994 Blue Chips Marty Cobb Al Stump 1995 Open Season Stuart Sain Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Man with Lighter 1997 Good Burger Angry Customer 1998 Welcome to Hollywood Himself 2013 Contest Zack Conti 2020 Shirley Randy Fisher 2022 The People's Joker Himself2024Saturday Night Dave Wilson
Television Year Title Role Notes 1987 Moonlighting Nut in Holding Cell Episode: "Blonde on Blonde" Falcon Crest Stand-up Comic Episode: "Topspin" L.A. Law Crutchfeld Episode: "Pigmalion" 1988 CBS Summer Playhouse Sid Barrows Episode: "Sniff" 1989 Tales from the CryptBarkerEpisode: "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone" Not Necessarily the NewsCommentatorEpisode #7.9 1993 Percy & ThunderJim KeislingTelevision film 1996–2002 Arliss Arliss Michaels 80 episodes 1997 The Last Don Bobby Bantz2 episodes 1998 The Last Don II2 episodes 2006–2007 Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Himself 2 episodes 2007 Everybody Hates Chris Abe Himmelfarb Episode: "Everybody Hates DJs" Boston Legal Bob Binder Episode: "Oral Contracts" 2012–2013 Franklin & Bash Hon. Maxwell Nulis 2 episodes 2015–2023 American Dad! Himself 5 episodes 2016 Blue BloodsCaptain Ward GibsonEpisode: "Whistleblowers" 2019 Supergirl Alexander Knox Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" 2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride The Grandfather Episode: "Chapter Eight: Ultimate Suffering" 2020–2021, 2025 The George Lucas Talk Show Himself 13 episodes
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