Editing Jon Polito (section)

==Coen brothers collaboration==
Polito was a regular in the films of the [[Coen brothers]], appearing in five of their films. The Coens had seen Polito in the New York stage adaptation of ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1986 playing Howard Wagner. They approached him to play the part of The Dane in ''[[Miller's Crossing]]'' (1990), but after reading the script he turned them down saying he would only play the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. The Coens auditioned several other actors but eventually used Polito after they made him read his entire role cold.<ref name="Random">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/jon-polito-60244|title=Jon Polito - Random Roles|date=August 11, 2011|work=The A.V. Club|access-date=September 2, 2016}}</ref>

He was offered the role of Lou Breeze in their next film ''[[Barton Fink]]'' (1991), in a role which was written especially for him. Again he turned down the Coens' offer, saying he wanted to play the part of film producer Jack Lipnick. Actress [[Frances McDormand]] persuaded him to take the role, saying it would change his career.<ref name="Random"/> He later appeared in ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (1994) as an eccentric businessman, ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'' (1998) as a private detective and finally in 2001 as a flirtatious salesman in ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There (2001 film)|The Man Who Wasn't There]]''.<ref name="Random"/>