Tuesday, May 30, 2006

RIP Paul Gleason (1944-2006)

Actor Paul Gleason may have passed away on Saturday, after losing his battle with mesothelioma, (a rare form of lung cancer), but anyone who has seen his work knows he will never be forgotten. He was 66 years old.

Anyone who came of age in the 80's, like I did, will remember him most as hard nosed Principal Richard Vernon in the 1985 "brat pack" classic The Breakfast Club. Three years later he appeared as Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson in the action genre landmark Die Hard. He also made Trading Places even funnier as Clarence Beeks. He even parodied some of these roles in Not Another Teen Movie (a very funny flick and quite underrated, if you ask me) and Loaded Weapon 1.

Gleason appeared in just about every well known TV series over the last 25+ years as well. His last film, The Book of Caleb is in post production, scheduled for release next year.

Gleason at the Hollywood premiere of Artisan's National Lampoon's Van Wilder in 2002

Photo Credit: Jean-Paul Aussenard/Wireimage.com

No comments: