Richard Edson

Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician.
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. His mother, Marian, a retired school teacher, resides in New Rochelle.
Music career
In 1979, Richard 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. 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.
Edson played the lead role in three films directed by Raphael Nadjari: The Shade (1999), I Am Josh Polonski's Brother (2001) 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; 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.
Selected filmography
1984 Stranger Than Paradise as Eddie
1985 Desperately Seeking Susan as Man With Newspapers
1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off as Garage Attendant
1986 Howard the Duck as Ritchie
1986 Crime Story (TV Series) as Jake Rennick
1986 Platoon as Sal
1986 Walker as Turley
1987 Good Morning, Vietnam as Private Abersold
1988 Eight Men Out as Billy Maharg
1988 Tougher Than Leather as Bernie Carteez
1988 The Chair as Riot Leader
1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway as Johnny Crackow
1989 Do the Right Thing as Vito
1989 Let It Ride as Johnny Casino
1989 China Lake as Connie Veesk
1989 Monsters (TV Series) as Jack Bateman
1990-1991 Shannon's Deal (TV series)
1991 Eyes of an Angel as Goon
1992 Love Is Like That as Bubba-Lilly
1992 Crossing the Bridge as Mitchell
1993 Split Ends (TV Series) as Eric
1993 Joey Breaker as Joey Breaker
1993 Posse as Deputy Tom
1993 Super Mario Bros. as Spike
1993 What About Me as Nick
1993 Love, Cheat & Steal as Billy Quayle
1995 Jury Duty as Skeets
1995 Destiny Turns on the Radio as Gage
1995 Strange Days as 'Tick'
1996 Scorpion Spring as Lem Wells
1996 Marco Polo The Missing Chapter as Bergman
1996 Cosas que nunca te dije as Steve
1996 The Winner as Frankie
1996 Wedding Bell Blues as Tom
1996 An Occasional Hell as Rodney Gillen
1997 This World, Then the Fireworks as Joe
1997 Snide and Prejudice as Rudolph Hess
1997 Double Tap as Fischer
1998 Lulu on the Bridge as Dave Reilly
1998 Thick as Thieves as Danny
1999 Purgatory (TV Movie) as Euripides
1999 The Shade as Simon
1999 Jack of Hearts as Henry
2000 Cement as Robbo
2000 The Million Dollar Hotel as Joe
2000 Timecode as Lester Moore
2000 Picking Up the Pieces as Edsel Farkus
2000 A Man Is Mostly Water as Bud Guy
2000 Desperate But Not Serious as Screenwriter
2001 I Am Josh Polonski's Brother as Abe Polonski
2001 Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician as Thomas
2001 P.O.V. - Point of View as Fool On Hill
2002 Sunshine State as Steve Tregaskis
2002 Apartment #5C as Harold
2003 Highway to Oblivion (TV Movie) as Leslie
2004 Starsky & Hutch as Monix
2004 Land of Plenty as Jimmy
2004 Frankenfish (TV Movie) as Roland
2004 Goodnight, Joseph Parker as Frankie
2005 Welcome to California as Husband / Sylvio
2005 The Kid & I as Guy Prince
2006 Hard Scrambled as Joe
2006 The Astronaut Farmer as Chopper Miller
2006 Cut Off as Mikey
2007 Under There (Short) as Roman
2008 Japan as Gus
2008 Momma's Man as Tom
2008 Columbus Day as Manny
2008 Vicious Circle as John
2009 Black Dynamite as Dino
2009 The Smell of Success as Nelly 'The Nose '
2009 The Greims (Short) as Larry
2010 NUMB3RS (TV Series) as Nick Rowland
2010 Happiness Runs as Pete
2010 Hands & Eyes (Short) as The Artist
2012 A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III as Sanchez
2012 Averageman
2014 Dark Hearts as Ravetti
2015 3 Holes and a Smoking Gun as Sam Dunkim
2015 Dutch Book as Billy Santiago
2018 Burning Shadow as Ronald
2019 3 From Hell as Carlos Perro
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
American Jews
Jewish American male actors
American male film actors
American male actors
American rock drummers
American male television actors
Noise rock musicians
Musicians from New Rochelle, New York
Male actors from New Rochelle, New York
Sonic Youth members
No wave musicians
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
Tito & Tarantula members