List of Police Academy characters
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This page is a list of characters in the Police Academy film series.
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt. Carey Mahoney
Played by: Steve Guttenberg
Mahoney is the lead character of the first four movies of the series. A troublemaking, womanizing cad with a heart of gold, his worst habit is retaliating against insults in bizarrely effective ways. For instance, the last straw before his police career was when he was a parking lot attendant when he was forced to park a car of an abusive driver in a full parking lot; he put the car into a side-wheelie and crashed it between two cars and proudly proclaims, "It fits!". Since his father was a decorated police officer, Mahoney was given the choice of the police academy or jail, by his father's former boss, Captain Reed, who didn't want Mahoney's antics to reflect poorly on his father. He is best known for protecting Cmndt. Lassard and playing practical jokes on Harris, Mauser and Proctor as the three view Mahoney to be unworthy of being a police officer due to his carefree attitude about life. Despite his womanizing and his habit of breaking the rules, Mahoney is portrayed as being a good and courageous person willing to help those in need, regardless of the consequences. The fact that he graduates with a decoration for bravery speaks to that personal valor.
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt./Lt. Moses Hightower
Played by: Bubba Smith
Featured in all but the seventh of the films, Hightower was a florist before joining the academy. He is best known for his immense stature and inhuman strength (Hightower practices for his driving test by ripping the front seat out of a compact car (a 1977 Honda Civic owned by Copeland), and steering comfortably from the back). However, he is the most soft-spoken of all the characters. Despite his gigantic size, Hightower has sometimes admitted that he lacks self-confidence, such as when he speak to Mahoney that he has not driven a car since he was twelve years old, and fears failing out of the police academy as he will not pass the driving test. His character often breaks things or uses force to threaten the bad guys. Other examples of him using his strength were when he lifted up the practice squad car with Copeland inside, who had insulted his friend Hooks by calling her a "dumb f--- jiggaboo". He can also drop easily into bad-cop mode, to gain the trust of crooks he's about to arrest. However, he too graduated from the academy with a decoration for bravery, and eventually made Lieutenant.
In the sixth movie, in pursuit of the Wilson Heights Gang, the only time he actually acknowledges himself being angry is when he is almost injured in by the largest of the Wilson Heights Gang criminals. When he gets up after having construction zone items fall on him, Hightower notices that his name pin was displaced and says to himself, "Now I'm mad."
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry
Played by: David Graf
Tackleberry is in all seven films and is best known for his love of firearms. He is portrayed as a Rambo-type figure in the movies. He had been an armed forces veteran prior to joining the police academy. He is a bit trigger-happy; a tendency which would have had him court martialled long ago had it not been for the fact that he actually has a good aim. In the second film, it is revealed that although he is 28 years old, he is still a virgin. However, upon meeting his police partner, a beautiful and equally gun-obsessed woman, Sgt. Kathleen Kirkland (played by Colleen Camp), he falls in love with her. They get married and have a son, Tackleberry Junior (featured in the sixth film). This leads to a series of gags involving the Kirkland family, featuring a father and son whose jibes and admonishments are usually punctuated by a good-natured-yet-brutal punch to the jaw. The mother sees the sadistic horseplay as all in good fun. His catchphrase is "...NOW, Mister!".
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt. Larvell Jones
Played by: Michael Winslow
Jones was one of the key characters in the series and is famous for making sound effects with his mouth. He is one of the characters often remembered from the films as he uses his ability to make noises to play pranks and deceive both criminals and authority figures. Jones is able to clearly imitate such sounds as a flat tire, a couple noisily eating fast food, gunfire, and, memorably, a badly-dubbed martial arts star when he defeats a pair of hoods bullying an Asian grocer. This revealed Jones' expertise in martial arts. Other times he uses his sound effects ability solely to amuse himself, such as one time at the academy when he imagines himself playing a game of Pac Man and makes all the known sound effects from that video game. He also has an ability to communicate with parrots, training them to call Captain Harris a "dork." Larvell is the only character to appear in all of the movies, the television series and the animated series.
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt. Laverne Hooks
Played by: Marion Ramsey
Hooks is a soft-spoken, unassertive woman who often has trouble putting people in line. However, she is known for becoming aggressive and authoritative when frustrated or otherwise pushed to her limit, punching people out or pulling her service weapon, uttering the memorable phrase: "Don't move, dirtbag!"
[edit] Sgt./Lt./Capt. Debbie Callahan
Played by: Leslie Easterbrook
This character is best known for her pure sex appeal, specifically her large breasts, which provided the series with countless sight gags. A more serious version of Tackleberry, Callahan is portrayed as a stoic, no-nonsense officer who is both physically and sexually aggressive. She along with Harris trained the cadets in the first film, but does not show the outright hostility towards the cadets that Harris does. She is an avid weightlifter and also knows martial arts and has a good singing voice. In the first film, she has a relationship with Cadet Martin; in the third and fourth film, she has a relationship with Japanese foreign-exchange cadet, Nagata. She is in 6 of the 7 films (having not appeared in the second), and eventually makes Captain.
[edit] Cadet/Off./Sgt. Douglas Fackler
Played by: Bruce Mahler
Bespectacled and accident-prone police officer who unknowingly causes injury and havoc to just about everyone and everything in his path. He appears in the first, second, third, and sixth movies. In a parody of the scene with his wife's reluctance to let him be a policeman, he shows similar opposition to his wife joining the new recruits in the third film, by jumping on the car's hood and riding it from their home to the police academy.
[edit] Cmndt. Eric Lassard
Played by: George Gaynes
Eric Lassard is Commandant, or head, of the Metropolitan Police Academy (sometimes also called the Midcity Police Academy). He is initially not into the politics of the police department. When Chief Hurst and Lieutenant Harris are denouncing the new female mayor's policy change to remove race and sex as barriers from academy admissions, he plays along with them and quickly dismisses their comments once they've left the room. A few years later, however, he will initiate a program known as Citizens on Patrol (COP), which is a community outreach course. Lassard featured in all seven films. He is often portrayed as benevolent yet clueless, fond of his accident-prone goldfish and of making longwinded, optimistic speeches about the future of the academy.
[edit] Lt./Capt. Thaddeus Harris
Played by: G.W. Bailey
"Mister Nasty" of the police academy, he always attempts to discredit Lassard and his men, but ends up being the butt of most of the jokes. Starting with Police Academy 4, he inherits Proctor from Mauser. He generally seems to be success-driven, at the cost of Lassard and his men. Started as Lieutenant in the first film but is Captain in other films to come. His catchphrase is "Move it! Move it! Move it!"
[edit] Sgt/Lt. Proctor
Played by: Lance Kinsey
Gullible sidekick to Mauser in Police Academy 2 and 3 and Harris thereafter. He is portrayed as a fool or dimwit. He is generally nicer than Harris or Mauser and is often just following orders, which he mostly manages to screw up.
[edit] Sgt. Kathleen Kirkland-Tackleberry
Played by: Colleen Camp
Sergeant Kathleen Kirkland started on the second film as a trainer, and eventually married Eugene Tackleberry. Authoritative and gun-crazy, she makes the perfect match for Tackleberry. She is from an active family, her father was a boxer and her brother is also a police officer and they engage in regular play fights. She is best known for her army-style mannerisms and commands.
[edit] Lt./Capt./Cmndt. Mauser
Played by: Art Metrano
Mauser (or Miser in the series) is a similar character to Harris, and his role in the movies is essentially the same. Playing a ruthless and demeaning, success-driven officer, Mauser is often the butt of many of the jokes played by Lassard's men. His lackey is also Proctor. He only appeared in Police Academy 2 and 3. In Police Academy 2, he tricks his way into becoming Captain of the Precinct. In Police Academy 3, he is the Commandant of the rival police academy.
[edit] Cadet/Off. Sweetchuck
Played by: Tim Kazurinsky
Sweetchuck joined as a cadet in the third movie after an appearance in the second. A stereotypical nerd, Sweetchuck's diminutive size and geeky appearance provided many gags, usually in relation to his physical weakness or as a foil for fellow recruit Zed.
Sweetchuck first appeared in the second film as a shop owner terrorized by Zed and his gang. In the third film, Sweetchuck decides to join the police force; unfortunately, his former tormentor Zed joins in the same class. The two became mismatched roommates. After just a few days, Sweetchuck was unable to take anymore of Zed's antics and attempted to leave the academy, but was convinced by Tackleberry to stay. He and Zed eventually got along better as time went on.
[edit] Cadet/Off. Zed
Played by: Bobcat Goldthwait
In the second film, Zed is portrayed as a hyperactive, antisocial gang leader with eccentric mannerisms, appearance, and taste. Many gags are based around Zed's fondness for things that contrast with his wild-man image, such as Family Affair (actually crying at dramatic moments) and Mickey Mouse watches. Zed is almost like a child, admonishing his cronies to "act their age" while they trash a supermarket and thanking the cashier for the "great bargains" (as his gang trundle shopping carts full of food out of the store). When his gang disrupts an anti-crime street fair sponsored by the Mayor, he tells her "I voted for you!" Zed was caught at the end of the second film.
In the third film, a reformed Zed inexplicably joins the police force. He often brings trouble to Sweetchuck, who was the subject of harassment during their civilian years. They become roommates while they are both training at the Police Academy and they manage to get along (to an extent) with each other in time. He suffers from an inability to speak properly and often squeaks or swallows his words. He falls in love in the fourth film with Laura, one of the Citizens On Patrol. His bad breath and screaming are far more potent weapons than any firearm. It was powereful enough to blow down a door.
[edit] Sgt. Nick Lassard
Played by: Matt McCoy
Nephew of Eric Lassard, he appears in the fifth and sixth films. Nick is an officer in the Miami police department in the fifth film, where he falls in love with another cop. In the sixth film, Nick replaces Mahoney's character as the lead prankster and womanizer. He is also a skilled gymnast: at the end of Police Academy 6 he escapes injury by swinging on an overpass and landing in a speeding Bigfoot. Mahoney and Nick's characters are very similar, as much as Harris and Mauser.
[edit] Police Chief/Commissioner Henry J. Hurst
Played by: George R. Robertson
Initially chief of police, he was later promoted to commissioner. He is strict but fair and does not like to be taken for a ride. He sometimes appears concerned about Commandant Lassard's behavior. He is often bothered by the attempts to curry favors that Harris and Mauser do.
[edit] Cadet/Sgt. Chad Copeland
Played by: Scott Thomson
He is one of the cadets who spies for Mauser and Harris. He is often fooled into walking in the gay bar, The Blue Oyster. He appeared in the first, third and fourth films.
[edit] Cadet/Sgt. Kyle Blankes
Played by: Brant von Hoffman
Along with Copeland, he was often the comic foil for Mahoney and the other officers. He only appeared in the first and third films.
[edit] Cadet/Off. Thomas "House" Conklin
Played by: Tab Thacker
House would appear in movies 4 and 5. When he was a child, Hightower would babysit him and bounce him on his knee. He would join the academy first under the COP program in the fourth film, and later become a full time cop at the start of the fifth film. He is overweight due to his love of food, and this at times is used as a source of jokes: on the flight to Miami, House moves over to Hightower to show him an article in a magazine, and the plane begins to tilt. Like Hightower he is strong, but is not as focused upon like Hightower.
Tab Thacker, the former NCAA wrestling champion who went on to use his size to earn roles in several Hollywood films, died on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at the age of 45. While at N.C. State Thacker earned the NCAA wrestling championship in 1984 and collected four ACC titles with the Wolfpack. Thacker was also named All-America three times while in college. The 6-foot-5 450-pound Thacker went on to appear in several films including “City Heat,” “Wildcats,” two of the “Police Academy” films and “Identity Crisis.”
[edit] Capt. Pete Lassard
Played by: Howard Hesseman
Captain Pete Lassard, brother of Cmndt. Eric Lassard, appeared as the captain of the 16th Precinct from the second film. This precinct is where the new academy graduates were first posted.
[edit] Cadet George Martin
Played by: Andrew Rubin
George Martin appears only in the first Police Academy movie. When the movie begins he seems to be a hispanic heartthrob with many girlfriends. But later in the movie it is revealed he fakes a Spanish accent and changes the pronuciation his name (he would pronounced his last name Mar-teen) to get girls. By the end of the first film he would be unwillingly involved with Callahan.
[edit] Cadet Leslie Barbara
Played by: Donovan Scott
Leslie Barbara is an overweight guy that couldn't stand up for himself, and happened to have two girl names. For this he is constantly the victim of extreme practical jokes by a group bully who drive a vintage green pickup truck with the word Teskey written on it grill. In the first part of the first film he and the photo hut that he worked at (which is in the shape of camera) were thrown off a bridge into a river. He declares revenge as he is joining the police academy. While there he learns how to stand up for himself and develops self defense skills. This would come in handy during the city riot at the end of the film when he finally faces the bully who tormented him before becoming a cop. After the fight, he demands the gang to return the furniture from the truck back into the house they were taking it from. The ringleader says "But it's our furniture." Barbara mutters "Oh, sorry," leaves looking a little guilty, but then smiles, with a "sweet revenge" look in his eyes.
