Gerrit Graham

Gerrit Graham (born November 27, 1949) is an American former stage, television, and film actor as well as a scriptwriter and songwriter.^[1] He is best known for his appearances in multiple films by Brian De Palma as well as appearances in two Star Trek series. He starred in Used Cars with Kurt Russell and voiced Franklin Sherman on The Critic.

Education

Graham attended but did not graduate from Columbia University. At Columbia, he was the head of Columbia Players, the college theater company.^[2][3][4] His future co-worker, Brian De Palma, was also a former manager of the student group during his undergraduate years.^[5]

Career

Actor

Film

He has appeared in movies such as Used Cars, TerrorVision, National Lampoon's Class Reunion, Child's Play 2 and Greetings,^[1] where he worked with Brian De Palma for the first time. He again worked with De Palma on Hi, Mom and Home Movies, as well as Phantom of the Paradise, where he played flamboyant glam-rocker Beef. Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times remarked that Graham and Jon Lovitz were the only actors in Last Resort who were "exempt from the bad-accent stigma."^[6]

Television

Graham was the voice of Franklin Sherman in the animated series The Critic as well as a recurring role as Dr. Norman Pankow on the sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose.

He has appeared in two different roles on the Star Trek television series: as the alien hunter of Tosk on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and as a member of the Q Continuum (adopting the name Quinn) in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Death Wish". He had been short listed to play the character of Odo, which went to René Auberjonois.^[7]

Stage

Graham is a stage performer whose performances in the 1986 improvisational show Sills & Company^[8][9] and the 1987 play Bouncers by John Godber^[10][11] were positively reviewed by the New York Times. Julio Martinez of Variety.com called Graham "eerily evocative" of Allard Lowenstein in Dreams Die Hard in 1995.^[12] Frank Rizzo of Variety.com wrote that Graham had "some of the best lines" in his performance as Father Charles Dunbar in The God Committee in 2004.^[13] He also played Julian in Communicating Doors in 1998.^[14]

Writer

Graham wrote the teleplays for the episodes "Still Life" and "Opening Day" of the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone.^[15] He did not write "Welcome to Winfield", the only episode in which he appeared as a member of the cast.

Musician

Graham has written songs with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.^[16]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. ^ The New York Times
2. ^ Hunter, Robert (13 October 2015). The complete annotated Grateful Dead lyrics: the collected lyrics of Robert Hunter and John Barlow, lyrics to all original songs, with selected traditional and cover songs. ISBN 978-1-5011-2332-0. OCLC 966502215. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
3. ^ "The Crime, and Its Victims". artsites.ucsc.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
4. ^ Gencarelli, Mike (2014-10-29). "Gerrit Graham talks about roles in "Phantom of the Paradise" and "Used Cars"". MediaMikes. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
5. ^ "Columbia Daily Spectator 28 April 1969 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
6. ^ Benson, Sheila (1986-05-09). "Family Vacation Goes Awry In 'Last Resort'". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
7. ^ "Catching Up with 2X Trek Guest Gerrit Graham". Star Trek. 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
8. ^ Mel Gussow (1986-07-20). "Stage View; Actors And Audiences Brew Fun From Improvisation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
9. ^ Bennetts, Leslie (1986-06-08). "If It Works, It's Theater. If It Doesn't...". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
10. ^ Rich, Frank (1987-09-18). "The Stage: 'Bouncers,' Drama". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
11. ^ Drake, Sylvie (1993-07-08). "Stage Review : 'Bouncers' Rebounds From A Lack Of Substance At Tiffany". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
12. ^ Martinez, Julio (8 March 1995). "Dreams Die Hard – Variety". Variety.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
13. ^ Rizzo, Frank (27 July 2004). "The God Committee". Variety.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
14. ^ Isherwood, Charles (24 August 1998). "Communicating Doors". Variety.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
15. ^ Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier (April 2003). Into the Twilight Zone: The Rod Serling Programme Guide. iUniverse. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-595-27612-7.
16. ^ "The Crime, and Its Victims by Gerrit Graham". Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2017-10-20.

External links

• Gerrit Graham at IMDb