Gerrit Graham (born November 27, 1949) is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a scriptwriter and songwriter.The New York Times
/ref> He is best known for his appearances in multiple films by

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

as well as appearances in two ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' series. He voiced Franklin Sherman on ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

''.

Education

Graham attended but did not graduate from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. At Columbia, he was the head of Columbia Players, the college theater company. His future co-worker,

, was also a former manager of the student group during his undergraduate years.

Career

Actor

Film

He has appeared in movies such as ''

Used Cars ''Used Cars'' is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell), a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke Fuc ...

'', ''

TerrorVision ''TerrorVision'' is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ted Nicolaou, produced and written by Albert and Charles Band and composed by Richard Band, all of whom would go on to found and work with Full Moon Features in 19 ...

'', ''

National Lampoon's Class Reunion ''Class Reunion'' is a 1982 American black comedy film produced by '' National Lampoon'' as the third film from the magazine. It was the second film released; although ''National Lampoon Goes To The Movies'' was filmed in 1981, it was delayed and ...

'', ''

Child's Play 2 ''Child's Play 2'' is a 1990 American slasher film and the direct sequel to '' Child's Play'', written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia, one of the co-writers of the first film. It is the second installment in the ''Child's Play'' franch ...

'' and ''

Greetings Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between indiv ...

'', where he worked with

for the first time. He would again work with De Palma on '' Hi, Mom'' and ''

Home Movies A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

'', as well as ''

Phantom of the Paradise ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is a 1974 American rock musical comedy horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma and scored by and starring Paul Williams. In the film, a naïve young singer-songwriter (played by William Finley) is tricked ...

'', 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."

Television

Graham was the voice of Franklin Sherman in the animated series ''

'' as well as a recurring role as Dr. Norman Pankow on the sitcom ''

Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the se ...

.'' He has appeared in two different roles on the ''

'' television series: as the alien hunter of Tosk on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' and as a member of the

Q Continuum Q is a fictional character, as well as the name of a race, in '' Star Trek'' appearing in the '' Next Generation'', '' Deep Space Nine'', '' Voyager'', '' Lower Decks'', and '' Picard'' series and in related media. The most familiar Q is portray ...

(adopting the name Quinn) in the '' Star Trek: Voyager'' episode "

Death Wish Death Wish or Deathwish may refer to: Common meanings *Suicidal ideation, term for thoughts about killing oneself *Death drive, term in Freudian psychiatry Arts and entertainment Radio *"Death Wish", a 1957 episode of the radio series ''X Minus ...

". He had been short listed to play the character of

Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...

, which went to

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Aw ...

Stage

Graham is a stage performer whose performances in the 1986 improvisational show ''Sills & Company'' and the 1987 play ''The Bouncers'' by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

were positively reviewed by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

. Julio Martinez of Variety.com called Graham "eerily evocative" of

Allard Lowenstein Allard Kenneth Lowenstein (January 16, 1929 – March 14, 1980)Lowenstein's gravestone, Arlington National Cemeteryphoto onlineon the cemetery's official website. Accessed online 28 October 2006.

Writer

Graham wrote the teleplays for the episodes "Still Life" and "Opening Day" of the 1980s version of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

''. 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 Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

the Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

.The Crime, and Its Victims by Gerrit Graham
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Gerrit 1948 births Male actors from New York City American male film actors American male television actors Songwriters from New York (state) Living people Columbia College (New York) alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors