Harvey Atkin was born in 1942 in Toronto, Ontario to parents of Russian-Jewish descent. He developed his interest in acting during high school. After school, he initially worked at his father’s construction company. He then became a real estate agent, eventually transitioning to acting in commercials. Atkin played Morty Melnick in the comedy film Meatballs (1979), for which performance he earned a Genie nomination. Harvey Atkin had a role in William Fruet’s horror film Funeral Home (1980), as well as the role of Sam in The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and also played Mario’s and Luigi’s archenemy King Koopa on DiC Entertainment’s cartoon version of Super Mario Bros.(notably, he was the first English voice actor for the character). Playing Bowser in all three Mario animated series, he was the only voice actor to appear in all three series as the same character. He voiced Mr. Mushnik on Little Shop, loosely based on the movie Little Shop of Horrors. He also played characters in other series such as Beetlejuice, Bad Dog and Ruby Gloom. Atkin appeared in more than 75 films and on many television series. He did voice-over work in many television and radio commercials, notably for the Leon’s Furniture chain, for which he won three Clio Awards. He appeared in 95 episodes of Cagney & Lacey as Sergeant Ronald Coleman. Atkin played Judge Alan Ridenour in a recurring role on the television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role he also played in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order, and was the voice-over in Leon’s and “Buy Israel Bonds” commercials in Canada. He also made a cameo playing a bus driver in the classic film Atlantic City (1980) starring Burt Lancaster, and was the voice for Morty in the television series Jacob Two-Two. He made a guest appearance in 2010 as a rabbi on the CBC Television series 18 to Life. Harvey Atkin died of cancer in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 74.