Background and career
Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor. 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).
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 did not expect to enjoy the lectures. After the third day, however, he was captivated by the course and decided to make acting his professional goal. He continued studying acting at the University of Houston. During one course, his teacher sent him to audition for Peter Bogdanovich, who was casting for The Last Picture Show, and Quaid won the role in what became his debut film.
Randy Quaid has appeared in over 90 films. Peter Bogdanovich discovered him when Quaid was a student at the University of Houston, and he received his first exposure in Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show. His character escorts Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) to a late-night indoor skinny-dip at a swimming pool. Other Bogdanovich films he appeared in are What's Up, Doc? and Paper Moon. Quaid's first major critically acclaimed role was in The Last Detail (1973). He played Larry Meadows, a young United States Navy sailor on his way to serve a harsh sentence for petty theft. Jack Nicholson starred as a sailor assigned to transport him to prison. Quaid was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Quaid appeared opposite Charles Bronson in the 1975 action film of a Mexican prison escape Breakout, based on actual events. In 1976, he appeared opposite Marlon Brando in The Missouri Breaks. In 1978 Quaid had a supporting role in the Alan Parker drama Midnight Express, about Americans and an Englishman imprisoned in Turkey. In 1983, Quaid portrayed Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Vacation. Quaid appeared in four of the seven films in the National Lampoon's Vacation film series as the jovial redneck cousin (through marriage) to Beverly D'Angelo, wife of Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold. In 1987, he won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years. Quaid said that he had wanted to play Johnson since becoming an actor. "I responded to him and his wants and needs in a way I've never done with any other character," he said. Quaid also tried to portray what he learned were Johnson's political attitude:
He was on the side of the people; he did a lot for racial equality; he had the ability to look at both sides of an issue and bring two opposing sides together; he was a man of great heart and compassion ... He thought he could handle the Viet Cong the way he handled people in Texas. He thought he could reason with them. But he had no understanding of them or their culture.
Shortly after appearing in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), the third installment of the series, Quaid was featured in Days of Thunder (1990) as NASCAR car owner and successful car salesman Tim Daland, a determined businessman who expects his team to be top-notch for fans and sponsors. He also starred in Quick Change with Bill Murray in 1990, and was the lead in the comedies Martians Go Home and Cold Dog Soup, released the same year. In 1992, he played the monster in Frankenstein, opposite Patrick Bergin as Victor Frankenstein. Quaid said "I wanted to make the monster not just a monster, but a disfigured man. I wanted to emphasize the human qualities. He is basically struggling for equal rights. He wants anything any man would want." In 1994, Quaid played a newspaper columnist in the comedy-drama The Paper, and had a cameo appearance in Major League II as Johnny. He later had starring roles in the 1996 film Kingpin, where he played the Amish bowler Ishmael, as well as a role as pilot in the blockbuster science fiction film Independence Day, released the same year. He appeared in Vegas Vacation (1997), the fourth installment of the series, and was then given the lead role in a Vacation spin-off, a made-for-television film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure (2003), which marks his final appearance in the franchise to date. Quaid was the voice of cattle rustler Alameda Slim in Disney's animated feature Home on the Range (2004), and had a pivotal supporting role in Brokeback Mountain (2005) as rancher Joe Aguirre. He played the King of Spain in Goya's Ghosts (2006). Quaid had a co-starring role in the Canadian independent comedy Real Time (2008), which opened the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival. His acclaimed performance earned him a Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award. Following his work in the direct-to-video comedy Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (2009), Quaid's legal troubles prevented him from working for almost a decade. Quaid was not asked to reprise the role of Cousin Eddie in Vacation (2015), although the character is verbally referenced. He returned to performing with Rob Margolies' weight loss comedy All You Can Eat (2018), which premiered at the SOHO International Film Festival in June 2018. After the film's September 2018 screening at the Northeast Film Festival, Quaid was nominated for their award for "Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film".
In 1981, Quaid co-starred in the two part television film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, playing the character of Lenny. Quaid's other television appearances include a season as a Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member (1985–1986), the role of gunslinger John Wesley Hardin in the miniseries Streets of Laredo and starring roles in the short-lived series The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire (2003) and Davis Rules (1991–1992). In 2005, he received nominations from the Golden Globe Awards and Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the critically acclaimed CBS television network miniseries Elvis. He was featured in the highly rated television films Category 6: Day of Destruction (2004) and Category 7: The End of the World (2005) and starred in Last Rites, a made-for-cable Starz/Encore! premiere movie. Quaid voiced the character Colonel Sanders in radio and television commercials for fast-food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken. Quaid's voice-over work also included commercials for Capital One, USAir, Miller and a guest role in The Ren & Stimpy Show (as Anthony's father in the second-season episode, "A Visit to Anthony"). He narrated the 2006 PBS series Texas Ranch House.
