Stephen Stucker (July 2, 1947 – April 13, 1986) was an American actor, known for portrayals of bizarre characters, notably the manic control-room worker Johnny in the early 1980s '' Airplane!'' movies and the stenographer in the courtroom sequence of 1977's '' The Kentucky Fried Movie''.

Early life and career

Stucker was born in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. His family moved to Shaker Heights,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he distinguished himself in school as a pianist and

class clown ''Class Clown'' is the fourth album released by American comedian George Carlin. It was recorded on May 27, 1972 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, and released in September. Background At the time Carlin was rel ...

. He made his screen debut co-starring in the 1975 comedic

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

film '' Carnal Madness'' as Bruce Wilson, a gay fashion designer who escapes from an insane asylum with two fellow inmates, fleeing to an all-girls school. He went on to perform in the 1977 earthquake-in-Los-Angeles comedy ''Cracking Up'', with

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...

Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in '' Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in '' ...

and Harry Shearer. Stucker was a scene-stealing member of the cast of the Madison, Wisconsin ''Kentucky Fried Theater'' sketch comedy troupe founded by

David Zucker David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized as the director and writer of the critically successful 1980 film ''Airplane!'' ...

, Jim Abrahams and

Jerry Zucker Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film producer, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as ''Airplane!'' and ''Top Secret!'', and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film ''Gh ...

. In 1977 he appeared in the

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

film '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'', based on the troupe's sketches. It led to his supporting role in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedy '' Airplane!'', which he reprised in '' Airplane II: The Sequel''. For the first film, the writers gave Stucker the straight lines for his scenes and let him write his character's off-the-wall responses.''Airplane!'' DVD commentary In 1982 he had a guest role in a three-episode sequence in the TV series '' Mork & Mindy'' and, in 1983, had a small featured role in Landis' '' Trading Places''. In 1984, he had a co-starring role as the sex-obsessed psychiatrist Dr. Bender in the teen comedy film ''

Bad Manners Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981). They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...

'' (aka: ''Growing Pains'').

Illness and death

On July 12, 1984, Stucker was diagnosed with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. He disclosed his illness to the media the following year, becoming one of the first recognizable entertainers to do so. In a November 1985 interview, Stucker claimed he had suffered from cancer-related symptoms as early as 1979, prior to public knowledge of what AIDS was, and that he had previously been an intravenous drug user. He died from AIDS-related complications in a Los Angeles hospital on April 13, 1986, at the age of 38. He is interred in the Chapel of the Chimes.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stucker, Stephen 1947 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American male actors AIDS-related deaths in California American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Des Moines, Iowa Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio American gay actors LGBT people from Ohio 20th-century American LGBT people