Richard Edson

Last updated

Richard Edson
Richard Edson.jpg
Edson in 2006
Born (1954-01-01) January 1, 1954 (age 70)
Occupation(s)Actor, musician
Years active1979–present

Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) [1] is an American actor and musician.

Contents

Personal life

Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father, Arnold (1917–2012), was one of the first Marine officers to land at Guadalcanal in August 1942. After the war, his father became a toy manufacturer. [2] His mother, Marian, a retired school teacher, resides in New Rochelle.

Music career

In 1979, Edson was a founding member of the San Francisco art rock band The Alterboys with Snuky Tate, Tono Rondone, Richard Kelly and JC Garrett, playing both drums and trumpet. From 1981 to 1982, he was Sonic Youth's original drummer and played drums for Konk at the same time. After the release of Sonic Youth's self-titled debut EP, Edson left the band to play with Konk full-time. [3] Edson also played trumpet with San Francisco band The Offs on the group's eponymous 1984 album.

Acting career

Following his music career, Edson has worked as an actor, appearing in over 35 movies. His more notable roles include a disreputable parking garage attendant in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), man at newspaper stand in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Richie in Howard the Duck (1986), Eddie in Jim Jarmusch's cult film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), real-life gambler Billy Maharg in Eight Men Out , and the title character in Joey Breaker (1993). He also appeared in Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Tougher Than Leather (1988), Let It Ride (1989), and Do the Right Thing (1989). He starred in the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros as Spike, King Koopa's cousin. In 1987, Edson performed live a main role in the Scott B and Joseph Nechvatal collaboration called Not a Door: A Spectacle at Hallwalls, based on the poetry of St. John of the Cross, Flaubert's Temptation of St. Anthony and works of Jean Genet and Georges Bataille. [4]

Edson played the lead role in three films directed by Raphael Nadjari: The Shade (1999), I Am Josh Polonski's Brother (2001) [5] and Apartment #5c (2002). In 2003, he appeared in the music video for Cave In's single, "Anchor". Edson played the central character of the video, a depressed man walking down the street with his feet encased in cement blocks. He also appeared in Frankenfish 2004.

His television appearances include The Adventures of Pete & Pete ; the third-season finale of Homicide: Life on the Street ; and the 1990–91 series Shannon's Deal , produced by John Sayles. Edson appeared in a 2007 TV commercial for The Travelers Companies Inc., in which he plays the human personification of risk.[ citation needed ]

Selected filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Ruck</span> American actor (born 1956)

Alan Douglas Ruck is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Frye in John Hughes' film Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), as well as television roles as Stuart Bondek on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2002) and Connor Roy on the HBO series Succession (2018–2023), the latter earning him Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristy Swanson</span> American actress (born 1969)

Kristen Noel Swanson is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer and appeared in the 1996 film The Phantom.

<i>The Winner</i> (1996 film) 1997 American film

The Winner is a 1996 film directed by Alex Cox and written by Wendy Riss based on her play A Darker Purpose. Most noted for its quirky cast and art department, including production designer Cecilia Montiel.

Lewis Fitz-Gerald is an Australian actor, screenwriter and television director, who lectures in Screen and Media Studies at Australia's University of New England.

Wayne Robson was a Canadian television, stage, voice and film actor known for playing the part of Mike Hamar, an ex-convict and sometime thief, on the Canadian sitcom The Red Green Show from 1993 to 2006, as well as in the 2002 film Duct Tape Forever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Mancuso</span> Canadian actor (b. 1948)

Nicodemo Antonio Massimo Mancuso is an Italian-Canadian actor, artist, playwright, and director. Beginning his career as a stage actor, he had his breakthrough role in the 1981 drama Ticket to Heaven, for which he won the Genie Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor. He has over 155 film and television credits, including a starring role on the NBC series Stingray (1985–87) and as antichrist Franco Macalousso in the Apocalypse film series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Shor</span> American actor, director and writer

Daniel Shor is an American actor, director, writer, and acting teacher with a career spanning over 40 years. His most recognized roles include Enoch Emery in John Huston's Wise Blood (1979), Pete Brady in Strange Behavior (1981), Ram in Tron (1982), and Billy the Kid in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Rossi</span> American actor

Leo Rossi is an American actor, writer and producer. A character actor with over 100 credits to his name, he is known for his role as foul-mouthed EMT Vincent "Budd" Scarlotti in the 1981 horror film Halloween II, as the serial killer Turkell from the 1990 horror sequel Maniac Cop 2, and as Detective Sam Dietz in the Relentless franchise. His other films include Heart Like a Wheel (1983), River's Edge (1986), The Accused (1988), Analyze This (1999), One Night at McCool's (2001), and 10th & Wolf (2006).

Clifford Tobin DeYoung is an American actor and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Fahey</span> American actor

Jeffrey David Fahey is an American actor. His notable roles include Duane Duke in Psycho III (1986), Pete Verill in Clint Eastwood's White Hunter Black Heart (1990), Jobe Smith in The Lawnmower Man (1992), and Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost (2008–2010). He is also known for his collaborations with director Robert Rodriguez, appearing in his films Planet Terror (2007), Machete (2010), and Alita: Battle Angel (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Boone Junior</span> American actor (born 1955)

Mark Boone Junior is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in Last Man On Earth, and film roles in Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000) and Batman Begins (2005), Die Hard 2 (1990), and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).

Arlene Sanford is an American film and television director.

Tom Butler is a Canadian television and film actor.

August Werner Schellenberg was a Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the Free Willy film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in Black Robe (1991), The New World (2005), and dozens of other films and television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Gilliland</span> American actor (1950–2021)

Richard Gilliland was an American television and movie actor, best known as JD Shackleford in Designing Women (1986–1992).

Nathalie Richard is a French actress.

Vlasta Vrána is a Canadian actor of Czech descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott L. Schwartz</span> American professional wrestler and actor

Scott Leslie Schwartz, also known as The Ultimate Bad Guy, is an American film and television actor and stuntman, and former professional wrestler. His size and agility at 6'8" and 303 pounds (137 kg) have allowed him many roles as thug or villain for film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey D. Vieira</span> American actor

Joseph Douglas Vieira, known as Joey D. Vieira, is an American film and television actor. He began as a child actor using the professional name Donald Keeler playing chubby, beanie-wearing farm boy, Sylvester "Porky" Brockway in the first several seasons (1954–57) of TV's Lassie. Vieira borrowed the professional surname from his aunt, Ruby Keeler, star of numerous Warner Bros. musicals in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott B and Beth B</span> American film producer

Scott B and Beth B were among the best-known New York No Wave underground film makers of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

References

  1. "Happy Birthday to New Rochelle's Richard Edson". January 2014.
  2. "Arnold George Edson Obituary (1917 - 2012) the Miami Herald". Legacy.com .
  3. Browne, David (2008). Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth. Del Capo Press. pp. 79–80.
  4. "Scott B and Joseph Nechvatal : Not a Door: A Spectacle at Hallwalls". Hallwalls.org. September 1987.
  5. "I Am Josh Polonski's Brother". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018.