There are certain actors who pop up in multiple cult movies, sometimes as the lead, sometimes only in very small roles—but are always memorable, no matter where you see them. Gerrit Graham, who passed away this week at the age of 77, was one such performer; his career kicked off in the early ’70s and spanned decades of entertaining turns in movies and TV shows.
If you’re a fan of Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise, Graham’s role as the flamboyant pop star Beef is forever emblazoned in your psyche. He also made an impression in the suddenly timely AI tale Demon Seed (1977); Robert Zemeckis’ satirical salesman saga Used Cars (1980), opposite Kurt Russell; the terrible but also wonderful National Lampoon’s Class Reunion, a 1982 black comedy set at “Lizzie Bordon High School;” post-Vietnam urban warriors action flick The Annihilators (1985); trashy “alien invasion by way of my satellite TV” romp TerrorVision (1986); splattery techno-horror delight Chopping Mall (1986); and CHUD II: Bud the CHUD (1989), in which he played the sewer-emergent title character.
Graham also appeared in 1987 cult skateboarding film The Search for Animal Chin, endearing him to an entirely different demographic beyond midnight movie fiends. In 1990, he starred in Child’s Play 2 as a foster dad who takes in little Andy Barclay and ends up tangling with Chucky as a result.
On the small screen, he had roles on Tales From the Crypt, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and Babylon 5, among many others.
According to Variety‘s report on Graham’s death, he was also a songwriter who collaborated with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and a screenwriter who penned episodes of the 1980s Twilight Zone, among additional credits. He will be greatly missed.
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