Toby Radloff
Toby Radloff (born December 12, 1957) is a former file clerk who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book American Splendor.Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms. He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine Nerd," and is proud of it. He publicly came out as gay after the release of the American Splendor film in 2003.Radloff met Pekar in 1980 when Radloff was hired at the VA Hospital, and soon became a recurring character in American Splendor. Radloff starred in such stories as "Lentils and Lent" (illustrated by Sean Carroll), "Double Feature Part 1: Footloose, Starring Toby Radloff" and "Double Feature Part 2: Revenge of the Nerds", (both illustrated by Bill Knapp), "Toby Saves the Day," (illustrated by Ed Wesolowski), and "Hollywood Reporter" and "Reduction" (both illustrated by Josh Neufeld).In the 2003 film American Splendor, the award-winning film adaptation of Pekar's comic, Radloff is played by Judah Friedlander, and also appears as himself in the documentary sections of the film.On August 3, 2006, Radloff tried out to be the next "Wack Packer" on The Howard Stern Show, but lost in the finals because Stern and crew felt that he was too famous.Radloff is currently appearing in short comedy videos for the "Genuine Nerdology" web series, created by filmmaker Wayne Alan Harold, the creator of Toby's original MTV segments. Thirty-nine installments have been posted at the series' official Blip Showpage as of May, 2014.