Randy quaid death celebrities in 2018

American actor (born 1950)

Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy.

He was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in The Last Detail in 1973. In 1978 he co-starred as a prisoner in Midnight Express. Quaid also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years (1987).

He also received Emmy nominations for his roles in A Streetcar Named Desire (1984) and Elvis (2005). Quaid is also known for his roles of Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies and Russell Casse in Independence Day (1996). He voiced Alameda Slim in the animated feature Home on the Range (2004).

Early life and education

Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, to Juanita Bonniedale "Nita" (née Jordan; 1927–2019), a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid (1923–1987), an electrician. Quaid has English, Scots-Irish, and Cajun ancestry. Through his father, Quaid is a first cousin, twice removed, of cowboy performer Gene Autry. Randy Quaid grew up in Bellaire, Texas, a small city surrounded by Houston, and in southwest Houston. He is the older brother of actor Dennis Quaid.

In high school, he took a class in drama on a whim, although he didn't expect he would enjoy the lectures. After the third day, however, he was captivated by the

Evi and Randy Quaid might be justified in some of their paranoia. They say they were among the victims of wiretapping private eye Anthony Pellicano and his inside man at the Los Angeles Police Department, Sgt. Mark Arneson.

Randy, 67, who was nominated for an Oscar and other awards for his serious dramatic roles, was best known for his Cousin Eddie character in the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” movies before his career derailed about eight years ago.

The Quaids claimed to be victims of “Star Whackers,” a secret cabal that they say are responsible for the deaths of David Carradine and Heath Ledger. The couple said Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan were also targets.

Now, they say they’ve learned they were part of a recently settled class action suit against the LAPD and Arneson, who was paid by Pellicano to provide confidential law enforcement records on hundreds of people. Both Pellicano and Arneson are in prison. The suit was first filed in 2006.

“Everything we have said about being bugged, hacked and tracked has been proven true,” Evi told me, from an undisclosed location.

Undisclosed, because I asked her where she was and she wouldn’t tell me.

The Quaids’ names were misspelled on the list of class victims, Evi said, and no one informed them that they were on the list until the lawsuit was settled.

The court is expected to approve a deal over the case on Jan. 30 that will pay a total of $285,600 to be divided among the 345 victims of Arneson’s record checks.

But the Quaids don’t stand to get paid because they’ve opted out of the class. “I want to know exactly what happened before I settle,” Evi said.

Randy — whose last movie was in 2009, the home video release “Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach” — has a role in the comedy “Weight,” slated for release this year.

Actor Randy Quaid earned notice for his characterizations of good-natured bumblers and hapless hillbillies in many acclaimed 1970s films before going on to enjoy a long career that netted him Academy, Golden Globe, and Emmy Award nominations. Following his Oscar nomination for playing opposite Jack Nicholson as a pair of sailors on leave in Hal Ashby's superb "The Last Detail" (1973) as well as a string of movies with some of the best filmmakers of the era, Quaid raised his comedic profile with "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) and its many sequels, as well as starring roles in the unsettling indie comedy "Parents" (1989) and the Farrelly Brothers' slapstick bowling outing, "Kingpin" (1996).

Always adept at lending a dark twist to his charismatic roles as criminals, sheriffs, and politicians, Quaid was aligned with the occasional blockbuster like "Days of Thunder" (1990), "Independence Day" (1996), and "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), while consistently earning praise for portraying larger-than-life figures like President Lyndon B. Johnson and Elvis' showy manager Col. Tom Parker in television movies. The towering, bear-like Texan leveraged his size to be both menacing and unexpectedly gentle and never failed to make an impression during his 40-plus years on the screen.

Born Randall Rudy Quaid on Oct. 1, 1950, Quaid and his younger brother Dennis - who would go on to be the heartthrob actor of the two - were raised in the suburbs of Houston, TX. While a drama student at the University of Houston, Quaid was discovered by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, who gave him an uncredited role in his directorial debut, "Targets" (1968). But it was Bogdanovich's adaptation of Larry McMurtry's "The Last Picture Show" (1971) that positioned the director as one of the top filmmaker's of the era, and Quaid as an engaging newcomer with promise. The ensemble piece about post-war life in a small Texas town earned an Oscar for Best Picture. A successful combination in th