Sydney Lassick (July 23, 1922 – April 12, 2003) was an American character actor perhaps best known for his role as Charlie Cheswick in the feature film ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest''. Lassick's first name was sometimes spelled ''Sidney''.

Biography

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Lassick, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and afterwards studied drama at DePaul University, began acting in both films and TV shows in the late 1950s. Lassick is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Charlie Cheswick, a whiny and childish manic depressive patient in the 1975 Academy Awards, Academy Award-winning film ''One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''. Other memorable roles include a fey Fairy Godfather in the lowbrow ''Sinderella and the Golden Bra'';Mr. Fromm, the spitefully sarcastic English teacher in the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel ''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie''; the perverse and abusive innkeeper Ernest Keller in slasher horror ''The Unseen (1980 film), The Unseen''; the slimy Charlie P. in the cult film ''Sonny Boy (1989 film), Sonny Boy''; and the effeminate lackey Gopher in ''Deep Cover'' (1992). Lassick also was the voice of Straycatcher #2 in the 1992 animated feature film ''Tom and Jerry: The Movie.'' In television, Lassick guest starred on such shows as ''Eight Is Enough'', ''Baretta'', ''Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), Hawaii Five-O'', ''Barney Miller'', ''Matt Houston'', ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'', ''Night Court'', ''Knots Landing'', ''Dream On (TV series), Dream On'' and ''The X-Files''. While usually a supporting actor, he played the lead in an episode of ''Amazing Stories (1985 TV series), Amazing Stories'' called "Remote Control Man." Though a successful actor, Lassick maintained a steady job as a trucking company's dispatcher throughout his career. He asserted that actors never knew when the acting jobs would stop coming.

Death

Lassick died from complications of diabetes, at age 80 in Los Angeles, California. Lassick was buried in a simple Jewish service, in the southwest Maimonides section, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

*''The Bonnie Parker Story'' (1958) as Scout Master *''Paratroop Command'' (1959) as Interpreter *''Al Capone (film), Al Capone'' (1959) as Hot Dog Vendor (uncredited) *''Sinderella and the Golden Bra'' (1964) as Fairy Godfather (as Sid Lassick) *''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975) as Charlie Cheswick *''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie'' (1976) as Mr. Fromm *''The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington'' (1977) as Percy Bowlder *''The Billion Dollar Hobo'' (1977) as Mitchell *''Bunco'' (1977, TV Movie) *''China 9, Liberty 37'' (1978) as sheriff's friend *''Greatest Heroes of the Bible'' (1978, TV mini series) as King Agadiz *''The Cracker Factory'' (1979) (TV) as Ernie *''Hot Stuff (1979 film), Hot Stuff'' (1979) as Hymie *''Skatetown, U.S.A.'' (1979) as Murray *''1941 (film), 1941'' (1979) as Salesman (uncredited) *''Alligator (film), Alligator'' (1980) as Luke Gutchel (as Sidney Lassick) *''The Unseen (1980 film), The Unseen'' (1980) as Ernest Keller *''History of the World: Part I'' (1981) as Applecore Vendor *''Pandemonium (1982 film), Pandemonium'' (1982) as Man in Bus Station *''Partners (1982 film), Partners'' (1982) as Photo Shoot Assistant (uncredited) *''Fast-Walking'' (1982) as Ted *''Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' (1982) as Osman *''Silent Madness'' (1984) as Sheriff Liggett *''Night Patrol'' (1984) as Peeping Tom (as Sidney Lassick) *''Monaco Forever'' (1984) as American Tourist *''Stitches'' (1985) as Sheldon Mendlebaum *''Ratboy'' (1986) as Lee 'Dial-A-Prayer' *''Body Slam (film), Body Slam'' (1987) as Shapiro *''Lady in White'' (1988) as Mr. Lowry *''The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck'' (1988) as Wolfgang Meyer *''Sonny Boy'' (1989) as Charlie P. *''Out on Bail'' (1989) as Otis T. Smiley *''Curse II: The Bite'' (1989) as George *''Tale of Two Sisters'' (1989) as Dad *''Judgement'' (1989) as Dr. Henry Silver *''Pacific Palisades (film), Pacific Palisades'' (1990) as Mr. Beer *''Smoothtalker'' (1990) as Mr. Nathan *''Wishful Thinking'' (1990) as Dr. Harding *''Committed (1991 film), Committed'' (1991) as Gow *''Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead'' (1991) as Franklin *''The Art of Dying'' (1991) as Wallie *''Shakes the Clown'' (1991) as Peppy the Clown *''Cool as Ice'' (1991) as Roscoe *''Deep Cover'' (1992) as Gopher *''Judgement (1992 film), Judgement'' (1992) as Dr. Henry Silver *''Miracle Beach'' (1992) as Tooth Fairy *''Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' (1992) as Straycatcher #2 (voice) *''Eye of the Stranger'' (1993) as Oli *''Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' (1993) as Competition Announcer *''Future Shock'' (1994) as Mr. Johnson *''Freeway'' (1996) as Woody Wilson *''Johns (film), Johns'' (1996) as Al *''Squanderers'' (1996) as Peter Chisholm *''American Vampire (film), American Vampire'' (1997) as Bruno *''Man on the Moon (film), Man on the Moon'' (1999) as Crystal Healer *''Something to Sing About (2000 film), Something to Sing About'' (2000) as Elderly Man (final film role)

Notable TV guest appearances

*''Serpico (TV series), Serpico'' as Goldman in episode 1.0: "The Deadly Game", 24 April 1976 *''The Man from Atlantis'' as Smith in episode 1.7: "The Hawk of Mu", 18 October 1977 *''Eight Is Enough'' as Mr. Kaminsky in episode 2.6: "Dark Horse", 26 October 1977 *''Baretta'' in episode 4.8: "Who Can Make the Sun Shine?", 30 November 1977 *''Tabitha (TV series), Tabitha'' as Warlock in episode 1.9: "What's Wrong with Mister Right?", 31 December 1977 *''Kaz (TV series), Kaz'' in episode 1.7: "Which Side Are You On?", 5 November 1978 *''Barney Miller'' **as Mr. Cummings in episode 5.11: "Toys", 14 December 1978 **as Victor Carse (as Sidney Lassick, in episode 6.22: "Fog", 8 May 1980 *''Archie Bunker's Place'' as Sid in episode 3.4: "Harry's Investment", 25 October 1981 and in episode 3.3: "The Date", 11 October 1981 *''Gloria (American TV series), Gloria'' as Dr. Montego in episode 1.20: "Class Struggle", 3 April 1983 *''Matt Houston'' as Brady in episode 2.5: "Needle in a Haystack", 7 October 1983 *''Night Court'' as Leo in episode 2.4: "Pick a Number", 25 October 1984 *''Amazing Stories (1985 TV series), Amazing Stories'' as Walter Poindexter in episode 1.10: "Remote Control Man", 8 December 1985 *''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' as Neighbor in episode 2.11: "The Bride of Tupperman", 14 January 1986 *''Gabriel's Fire'' as Liebowitz in episode 1.19: "One Flew Over the Bird's Nest", 17 April 1991 *''On the Air (TV series), On the Air'' as Mr. Zoblotnick in episodes 1.7 & 1.4, 1992 *''Dream On (TV series), Dream On'' as Mr. Janovic in episode 4.18: "Martin Tupper in 'Magnum Farce'", 16 February 1994 *''The X-Files'' as Chuck Forsch in episode 4.22: "Elegy (The X-Files), Elegy", 4 May 1997

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lassick, Sidney 1922 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American male television actors Jewish American male actors Deaths from diabetes American people of Russian-Jewish descent Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American male actors DePaul University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews