Kumar Pallana

Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian character actor, comedian and vaudevillian. He performed on the Mickey Mouse Club as a plate spinner and juggler.

His son, Dipak Pallana, created, owned and operated a cafe called the Cosmic Cup (now Cosmic Cafe) in Kumar’s home town of Dallas, Texas, 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.

Pallana died on 10 October 2013 at his home in California at age 94.

Family
Pallana's daughter Sandhya Pallana worked with him on The Terminal and other productions. His son Dipak, also an actor, appeared in films such as Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.