| Richard Edson | |
|---|---|
Edson holding a producer credit for The 1 Second Film in May 2006 |
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| Born | January 1, 1954 New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor/Musician |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician.
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Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. 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 was one of the first Marine officers to land at Guadalcanal in August 1942. His mother Marian, a retired school teacher, resides with his father in New Rochelle.
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 album, Edson left the band to play with Konk full-time.[1] Edson also played horns with San Francisco band The Offs on the group's eponymous 1984 album.
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), Eddie in Jim Jarmusch's cult film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), real-life gambler Billy Maharg in Eight Men Out, and Joey Breaker (1993). He also had roles in Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dirty Dancing (1987), Let It Ride (1989), and Do the Right Thing (1989). He starred in the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros as Spike, Koopa's (Dennis Hopper) cousin. Edson acted the lead role in three films directed by Raphael Nadjari: The Shade (1999), I am Josh Polonski's Brother (2001)[2] 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.
His television appearances include The Adventures of Pete & Pete and the third season finale of Homicide: Life on the Street. Edson appeared in a 2007 TV commercial for The Travelers Companies Inc., in which he portrays the human personification of risk. In total, Edson has appeared in about 85 movies/television shows.