John Bunnell
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John Edwin Bunnell (born 25 May 1944 in Pendleton, Oregon) is a former Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon. He rose to fame when he hosted the television series World's Wildest Police Videos.
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[edit] Background
Bunnell obtained a degree in social sciences before joining the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department in January 1969. Bunnel managed the drugs and vice unit in the 1980s. He was appointed Sheriff of Multnomah County when the previous Sheriff, Robert G. Skipper, retired in 1994 before the end of his term. Bunnell took the oath of office on November 30, 1994 and served until May of 1995.[1]
In 1989 and 1990 Multnomah County's Sheriff’s Office was featured in 15 episodes of COPS and in 1991, 13 episodes of American Detective. John Bunnell, as a Lieutenant, appeared in early episodes of both COPS and American Detective, and hosted the first season of American Detective.
He is usually referred to as "Sheriff John Bunnell" despite no longer being active in law enforcement. (This is occasionally shown as "Sheriff John Bunnell [Ret]").
[edit] World's Wildest Police Videos
His appearances on several early episodes of COPS conducting drug stings led to his hosting World's Wildest Police Videos. Bunnell attained a cult following due to his over-the-top commentary style, marked by police-related jokes, "cheesy, over exagerated melodrama, blatent overuse of illiteration [sic] and an extreme excess of cliche prison references".[2] Bunnell hosted the show, which ran from 1998 to 2002, through offering personal opinions on criminals and the police that chase them in pursuits such as the ones that appear on the program. He also commentated on the chases appearing on the show, describing the situation as it develops.
Bunnell lends his voice to the Sony Playstation game World's Scariest Police Chases, warning that "Due to the graphic nature of this game, player discretion is advised.", at the beginning of the game, similar to the warning at the beginning of the programme. He has also had minor acting roles in Ghost World, and Bad Santa, both directed by Terry Zwigoff. In 'Bad Santa' he uses one of his famous catch phrases when Billy Bob Thornton and his gang are surrounded by the police in the dept. store saying: "You guys are in so much trouble its not even funny!"- reminiscent of his comments on his TV shows.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "A History of Multnomah County Sheriffs" - Oregon State Sheriffs' Association. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ "Sheriff John Bunnell" - Cult Idols. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
[edit] External links
