Joe Turkel Biography

QUICK FACTS
Activity Actor
Real name Joseph Turkel
Nickname Joseph Turkel
Nationality USA
Born July 15, 1927 (Brooklyn, New York, United States)
Death June 27, 2022

BIOGRAPHY
Joe Turkel is an American actor with a career of more than 140 films and television series.
After returning from World War II, Turkel dedicated himself to his career in audiovisual media. His first on-screen appearance was in 1949 with the film City Across the River, a Noir film in which he participated as a supporting actor. Most of his career is based on incidental characters or one-time appearances. Some of the most important films in which he appeared include Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980); here he played Lloyd, the bartender at the Overlook Hotel. This film, although it was not very successful upon its release nor was it popular with the audience or Stephen King himself (author of the book on which the film is based), it became a cult film over the years, immortalizing the actor as the specter in the film. Shortly afterward he appeared in Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott, as Eldon Tyrell, the creator of the Tyrell Corporation and in charge of designing the replicants. This film was nominated for two Oscars for best production design and best visual effects in 1983. The last film in which he participated was titled The Dark Side of the Moon (1990), a horror film.
Joe announced his retirement from acting in 1998.