Gerrit Graham

'Gerrit Graham' (qv) was born on November 27, 1949 in New York City. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, and Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Gerrit made his acting debut at age eight in a Detroit Art Institute stage production of "Winnie the Pooh". Graham was the president of the dramatic association as a high school student at Groton and general manager of the Columbia Players while studying at Columbia University. He began his cinematic career acting in movies for director 'Brian De Palma' (qv): he's excellent in his film debut as paranoid conspiracy nut Lloyd Clay in _Greetings (1968)_ (qv) and gave a hilarious performance as preening flamboyant rock star Beef in _Phantom of the Paradise (1974)_ (qv). Graham's other memorable comic roles include no-talent aspiring country singer Perman Waters in 'Paul Bartel' (qv)'s _Cannonball! (1976)_ (qv), hippie commune leader Magic Ray in _Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976)_ (qv) sleazy used car salesman Jeff in the uproarious _Used Cars (1980)_ (qv), the snobby Bob Spinnaker in _Class Reunion (1982)_ (qv), and the leering Rodzinski in _The Creature Wasn't Nice (1981)_ (qv). Moreover, Gerrit has demonstrated his considerable range and versatility in such occasional serious parts as computer nerd Walter Gabler in _Demon Seed (1977)_ (qv), 'Susan Sarandon' (qv)'s abusive boyfriend Highpockets in _Pretty Baby (1978)_ (qv), tough Vietnam veteran Ray Stark in _The Annihilators (1985)_ (qv), and 'Alex Vincent' (qv)'s jerky foster father Phil Simpson in _Child's Play 2 (1990)_ (qv). Among the many TV shows Graham has done guest spots on are _Baretta (1975)_ (qv), _Starsky and Hutch (1975)_ (qv), _Laverne & Shirley (1976)_ (qv), _The A-Team (1983)_ (qv), _Fame (1982)_ (qv), _St. Elsewhere (1982)_ (qv), _Miami Vice (1984)_ (qv), _Dallas (1978)_ (qv), _The Wonder Years (1988)_ (qv), _Seinfeld (1989)_ (qv), _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)_ (qv), _Babylon 5 (1993)_ (qv), _The Larry Sanders Show (1992)_ (qv), _Star Trek: Voyager (1995)_ (qv), _Law & Order (1990)_ (qv), and _Third Watch (1999)_ (qv). Gerrit had a recurring role on _The Critic (1994)_ (qv). He wrote three episodes of the 1980s _The Twilight Zone (1985)_ (qv) revival and acted in the _The Twilight Zone: Welcome to Winfield/Quarantine (1986)_ (qv) episode of the same show. On stage, Gerrit has performed improvisational comedy sketches with Chicago's Second City troupe and worked with improvisational director 'Paul Sills' (qv) in Chicago as a member of Sills' Story Theatre ensemble. Graham has written several songs with 'Bob Weir' (qv) (these include the lyrics for the 'Grateful Dead' (qv) tune "Victim or the Crime"). Graham wrote additional dialogue and provided additional voices for the hit Disney animated picture _The Little Mermaid (1989)_ (qv) and co-wrote the screenplay for the cartoon short _The Prince and the Pauper (1990)_ (qv). He's the father of sons Jack and Henry.::woodyanders