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Eric Lassard | |
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' Police Academy' character | |
First appearance | Police Academy |
Last appearance | Police Academy: Mission to Moscow |
Portrayed by | George Gaynes; Tedd Dillon (animated series) |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Title | Commandant |
Occupation | Police officer |
Family | Pete Lassard (brother) Nick Lassard (nephew) |
Commandant Eric Lassard is a fictional character in the 1984 film Police Academy , as well as its six sequels. He was portrayed by George Gaynes. [1]
Commandant Lassard is introduced as head of the Metropolitan Police Academy (sometimes also called the Midcity Police Academy). Unlike many of his colleagues in administration, he is never politically reactionary in response to changes in the police force or changes to his academy, although he appears uninterested in police politics in general. When Police Chief Henry J. Hurst and Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris are denouncing the new female mayor's policy change to remove race and gender as barriers to academy admissions, he plays along with them. After they leave, he quickly dismisses their comments, and he is the only one shown to oppose Hurst and Harris's plans to weed out the new cadets. After Lassard's first successful run with the new recruits, Police Chief Hurst changes his outlook and realizes that Lassard was right in giving them a chance. In Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol , however, he initiated a program known as Citizens on Patrol (COP), which is a community outreach course.
Lassard is portrayed as being fond of his job, proud of the academy, and supportive of his cadets. He is also comically odd: he is rarely seen without his pet goldfish; frequently travels by golf cart; and is prone to accidentally destroying things (similar to fellow officer Sgt. Douglas Fackler), e.g., by playing golf inside his office. He can sometime be absent-minded, and a running joke in the series is that he becomes so lost in thought that he is carried away—usually figuratively, as in his signature repetition of the words "many" and "very" (e.g., "Have a very, very, very good day," or "This is very, very... very bad"), but sometimes literally, as when he starts to pace while giving a speech and wanders far from his audience. Lassard is an astounding trick shot at billiards, once clearing an entire pool table in a single shot, much to the astonishment of the local bar players.
Lassard nearly loses his job three times in the series. In Police Academy 3: Back in Training , the Metropolitan Police Academy, now a semi-statewide institution, is pitted against the state's other police academy in a competition to decide which school will survive budget cuts. In Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach , Lassard reaches the mandatory retirement age. This is brought to his superiors' attention by Captain Harris, and Lassard's retirement is announced to the surprise of everyone (including himself) at the subsequent graduation ceremony. He flies with his contingent to Miami Beach, Florida to be honored as Police Officer of the Decade at the National Police Chiefs' Convention. While in Miami, he inadvertently foils a jewel thief's escape, earning him and his men and women medals from the city. As a result, back in his home state, his superiors waive his mandatory retirement and allow him to continue to serve as long as he wishes. His age seems to be approximately 70 years old. In Police Academy 6: City Under Siege , the criminal mastermind who has begun to seize control of the city attempts to frame Lassard for a jewel heist by planting stolen jewelry in his desk at the Oakdale Station, where he has been leading a task force. As a result, Lassard is suspended from active duty, until Nick and Hightower prove that he is innocent (and that Harris had been leaking information to the thieves to keep them ahead of the police and humiliate Lassard and his men).
Comdt. Lassard's family consists mainly of his wife, seen briefly during the first movie and never named, and a younger brother, Captain Pete Lassard (played by Howard Hesseman), whose precinct has a horrendous crime rate until the fresh graduates from Comdt. Lassard's academy bring down an enormous gang. A nephew (possibly Pete's son), Nick Lassard, is with the Miami Police but leaves to join Eric in Police Academy 6.
Lassard has other nephews in the animated series.
Police Academy is a series of American comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s and the seventh in 1994. The series opened with Police Academy (1984), which started with the premise that a new mayor had announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The film followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers, and succeeding both in spite of and because of their eccentricities. The main character in the first four films, Carey Mahoney, was a repeat offender, who was forced to join the police academy as punishment. The seventh and to date last installment, Mission to Moscow, was released in 1994. Guttenberg in September 2018 announced that a new Police Academy film was in the works.
George Gaynes was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway.
Commandant is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police rank. It is also often used to refer to the commander of a military prison or prison camp.
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Jerry Paris. It is the second installment in the Police Academy franchise and the sequel to Police Academy.
Merlin O'Neill served as the tenth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1 January 1950 to 1 June 1954.
Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Alan Myerson. It is the fifth installment in the Police Academy franchise, released on March 18, 1988. The film was given a PG rating for language and ribald humor.
The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on to respective service academy for further pre-commission training. The NDA is located in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra. It is the first tri-service academy in the world.
Police Academy 3: Back in Training is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Jerry Paris. It is the third installment of the Police Academy franchise and the sequel to Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol is a 1987 American comedy film. It is the fourth installment in the Police Academy franchise. It was released on April 3, 1987 and is the sequel to Police Academy 3: Back in Training.
Police Academy is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson in his directorial debut, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Its storyline follows a new recruitment policy for an unnamed city's police academy to take in any recruit who wishes to apply and study to become a police officer. The film stars Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, and G.W. Bailey.
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege is a 1989 American comedy crime film starring Bubba Smith, David Graf and Michael Winslow. It was directed by Peter Bonerz and written by Stephen Curwick, based on characters created by Neal Israel and Pat Proft. The film was given a PG rating for violence and language. This was the fifth and last Police Academy sequel to be released in the year immediately following the previous installment of the series. It would take five years until the release of the following film, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. Police Academy 6: City Under Siege was also the last film in the series to feature Bubba Smith, Marion Ramsey, Bruce Mahler, Lance Kinsey and George R. Robertson as Hightower, Hooks, Fackler, Proctor and Commissioner Hurst respectively.
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow is a 1994 American action comedy film starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, and Claire Forlani. It is the seventh and final installment in the Police Academy franchise to date, and sequel to Police Academy 6: City Under Siege. The film was directed by Alan Metter and written by Randolph Davis and Michele S. Chodos. George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, and David Graf were the only three cast members to appear in all seven films.
Police Academy is a 1988 animated television series based on the Police Academy series of films. The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises for Warner Bros. Animation. It aired weekdays and lasted two seasons for a total of 65 episodes.
Police Academy: The Series is a sitcom series that was a spin-off from the Police Academy series of films. Michael Winslow was the only actor from the Police Academy films to have a recurring role on the show, although several of the film's cast made occasional guest appearances. The series was written by Paul Maslansky and produced by James Margellos and Gary M. Goodman and aired in syndication from September 27, 1997, until May 23, 1998.
Dave Richard Palmer is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General who served as the 53rd Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1986–1991), military historian and author, and former President of Walden University. A 1956 graduate of West Point, he served two tours in the Vietnam War and numerous command positions during the height of the Cold War. He taught courses at both West Point and the Vietnamese National Military Academy.
George Ross Robertson was a Canadian actor perhaps best known for his roles in the first six Police Academy films and the film JFK.
Eric M. Smith is a United States Marine Corps general who serves as the 36th assistant commandant of the Marine Corps since 8 October 2021, and as acting commandant of the Marine Corps since 10 July 2023. He most recently served as the deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, being succeeded by Karsten Heckl.
Rodney K. Harrison
Robert J. Contee III is the former Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., United States. He was appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser as acting chief effective January 2, 2021, and was confirmed unanimously by the DC Council on May 4, replacing Peter Newsham. He retired from the Metropolitan Police Department on May 31, 2023.