Kumar Pallana, best known for his roles in numerous Wes Anderson films, has died, according to a source close to his family. Pallana his career in entertainment in the '50s by making a name for himself as the "Kumar of India" whose specialty was spinning plates—in fact, he grew so popular, he even appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club and Captain Kangaroo as the Kumar of India. However, it wasn't under Anderson's 1996 film Bottle Rocket that Pallana appeared on the big screen, at nearly 80 years old.
After that, Pallana went on to appear in small roles in other Anderson projects, like The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, and The Darjeeling Limited, as well as other major films like The Terminal and Another Earth.
As for how Anderson and Pallana met—Anderson, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson would often visit the a coffee shop in Dallas owned by Pallana's son, Dipak, and they eventually casted him for a part in Bottle Rocket.
Pallana was 94.
[via A.V. Club]
