Gerritt Graham

An alumnus of the famed Groton Academy prep school, tall, blonde, wild-eyed character-actor Gerritt Graham has specialized in roles that have been anything but scholarly. Graham was starred in the seminal Brian DePalma features Greetings (1969) and Hi, Mom (1970), stealing the first-mentioned film as the hilariously manic JFK assassination-conspiracy theorist. Many of his mainstream film appearances have been in comedy potboilers unworthy of his talents: exceptions include De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974) in which Graham was both funny and ferocious as the Rocky Horror-ish "Beef," and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (1978), in which he was cast as Highpockets, Susan Sarandon's scuzzy, abusive boyfriend. Gerrit Graham's TV-series assignments have included wacky neighbor Leonard Scribner in Stockard Channing's Just Friends (1979), trucker Cliff Buttram in Sugar and Spice (1990), and the voice of the title character's judgmental father in the animated The Critic (1994).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide