AllMovie

Factsheet

• Raised outside of Chicago as the sixth of nine children, including older brother James, a founding member of the band Chicago.
• Left college in his junior year after seeing David Mamet's play, The American Buffalo, which inspired Pankow to enroll in the two-year training program at Chicago's St. Nicholas Theater.
• Performed on Broadway (in his first stint) in Serious Money, The Iceman Cometh and as Mozart in Amadeus.
• Appeared in a numerous films of the late 1980s-early '90s, including To Live and Die in L.A., Talk Radio and Mortal Thoughts.
• Most recognized for his role as Ira Buchman, cousin of Paul Reiser's character, on the '90s NBC sitcom Mad About You.
• Returned to Broadway in the 2000s, performing in Twelve Angry Men, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Cymbeline. 
• Took over the role of Merc Lapidus (from Thomas Haden Church) in 2011 on the Showtime/BBC show Episodes.