Kumar Pallana
Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian-American character actor. He performed on television on the Mickey Mouse Club, The Ed Sullivan Show, and You Asked for It as a plate spinner and juggler. He is best known for playing significant characters in Wes Anderson's first three movies: Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
Kumar Pallana

Andrew Ramirez · Derivative of File:IMAG0407.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Kumar Pallana
- Birth Name
- Kumar Valavhadas Pallana
- Born
- 23 December 1918
- Birthplace
- Indore, British Raj
- Died
- 10 October 2013
- Place of death
- Oakland, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Actor
- Nationality
- India
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Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian-American character actor. He performed on television on the Mickey Mouse Club, The Ed Sullivan Show, and You Asked for It as a plate spinner and juggler. He is best known for playing significant characters in Wes Anderson's first three movies: Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
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wikidata · Q2633253 · wikipedia · Kumar Pallana
In this article
Biography
Biography
He also acted in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal (2004).

Kumar Pallana and 2 others
Andrew Ramirez · Oh snap11 at the English Wikipedia · Self-photographed
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kumar Pallana • Birth Name — Kumar Valavhadas Pallana • Born — 23 December 1918 • Birthplace — Indore, British Raj • Died — 10 October 2013 • Place of death — Oakland, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1952–2013
Career
Career
Pallana moved to the United States in 1946 and spent 20 years performing around the country before settling down in Texas at his wife's insistence, and started a yoga studio. Pallana was married to Ranjana Jethwa and had two children, son Dipak and daughter Sandhya. His son Dipak created, owned, and operated a cafe called the Cosmic Cup (now Cosmic Cafe) in Dallas, where Kumar met director Wes Anderson and actor Owen Wilson. Anderson subsequently cast Pallana in his films Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Darjeeling Limited. Pallana also appeared in the Bollywood movie Anjaana Anjaani (2010) and the acclaimed independent film Another Earth (2011). A short documentary, KUMAR:MKE, about Pallana's connection to the Milwaukee film scene, was released in 2015.
Personal life and death
Personal life and death
Pallana's daughter Sandhya Pallana worked with him on The Terminal and other productions. His son Dipak, also an actor, appeared in Anderson's films such as Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums. Pallana died on 10 October 2013 at his home in Oakland, California at age 94.
Filmography
Filmography
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1952 — Viva Zapata! — Soldier — Uncredited • 1996 — Bottle Rocket — Kumar • 1998 — Rushmore — Mr. Littlejeans • 2001 — The Royal Tenenbaums — Pagoda • 2002 — Bomb the System — Kumar Baba • 2003 — Duplex — Indian Restaurant Owner • 2004 — The Terminal — Gupta Rajan • 2005 — Romance & Cigarettes — Da Da Kumar • 2006 — The Gold Bracelet — Dhinubhai • 2006 — RevoLOUtion — Kumar • 2006 — 10 Items or Less — Lee • 2007 — The Darjeeling Limited — Old man on train • 2009 — Karma Aur Holi — DJ Rav • 2009 — Today's Special — Shah • 2010 — Anjaana Anjaani — Coast guard • 2011 — Another Earth — Purdeep • 2011 — Hollywood Whores — Magic Man • 2011 — Campus Radio — Yogi • 2012 — Heavy Hands — The Clerk • 2014 — Hamlet A.D.D. — Kumar — Posthumous • 2019 — Black Licorice — Kumar — Posthumous; Final film role
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2013
Kumar Pallana died in 2013 at Oakland.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Indore.
Birth place
Oakland.
Death place
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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