In film, Polito was a regular member of the Coen Brothers' repertory company, appearing in Miller's Crossing (as Johnny Caspar), Barton Fink (producer Lou Breeze), The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski (Da Fino), and The Man Who Wasn't There. Other film credits include The Rocketeer, The Honeymooners, and The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. On TV, he played Detective Crosetti on Homicide: Life on the Street and made guest spots on Seinfeld, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, Roseanne, NYPD Blue, Mad About You, Murder, She Wrote, Miami Vice, Dragnet, Scrubs, Modern Family, and Desperate Housewives, and voice work in the animated series Batman Beyond.