David Rasche

David Rasche
Born	(1944-08-07) August 7, 1944 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Years active	1977-present
Spouse	Heather Lupton (m. 1980-present) 3 children

David Rasche (born August 7, 1944) is an American actor.

Early life and career

Rasche was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was a minister and farmer. Rasche started in theatre, but also has appeared on numerous movies and television series. He was at one time a member of Chicago's Second City improv group.

Rasche has a scholarly background (graduate degree from the University of Chicago) and also worked as a teacher and writer before going into show business full-time. After Second City, he starred in the Organic Theater's 1974 production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which established the playwright's characteristic blend of earthy, sometimes brutal dialogue. He later played to critical acclaim in the Broadway production of Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, and an Off-Broadway revival of Mamet's Edmond. He was Petruchio to Frances Conroy's Kate in a production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew directed by Zoe Caldwell at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut in the mid-1980s.

In 1974, he fronted $1,000 to help start Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. He began appearing on TV and films in 1977, making his film debut in 1978 in An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky. The following year, he had a small part in Woody Allen's Manhattan. He also played a terrorist in the 1983 television movie Special Bulletin. Later, he appeared on the Miami Vice episode "Bushido" (first aired November 22, 1985) as a KGB agent attempting to capture a former colleague of Lt. Castillo (Edward James Olmos). Ironically, during his subsequent starring role on Sledge Hammer! his character would often makes jokes about Miami Vice. Rasche is married to Heather Lupton with whom he has three children and who made a guest appearance in the series Sledge Hammer as Hammer's ex-wife.

Sledge Hammer!

Rasche is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the cult television classic, Sledge Hammer!. The show was a spoof of police dramas centered around 'Sledge', a violent and chauvinistic policeman.

Later film and stage work

He had a minor role as a photographer in the movie Cobra alongside Brigitte Nielsen.

Rasche played the role of Ted Forstmann in the 1993 made for television movie Barbarians at the Gate, about the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco.

In addition to his work as a screen actor, Rasche can also be heard as Captain Piett in the NPR radio adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back.

• He appeared as Stig Ludwigssen in the 2000 movie The Big Tease starring Craig Ferguson.
• He played the President in the 2006 film The Sentinel.
• He starred as a crooked police officer in the Tom Selleck movie An Innocent Man.
• He has a minor appearance in Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.
• He also portrays the late Donald Greene, one of the passengers of doomed flight 93, in Paul Greengrass' controversial 9/11 film United 93. He is presently working on Garrett Bennett's The Spy & the Sparrow.
• In 2008, he played a CIA officer in Burn After Reading.
• In fall 2008, Rasche starred in the ill-fated Broadway adaptation of To Be or Not to Be, in a reprisal of Jack Benny's role as Joseph Tura.
• He had a major role in the 2009 satirical political comedy In the Loop, as a US official pushing for an invasion of an unspecified Middle Eastern country.
• In 2010 he acted as an alcoholic immigration officer in the Brazilian movie Blue Eyes (Olhos Azuis) directed by Jose Joffily, for which he received critical praise.
• Rasche portrayed Chief X in the 2012 science fiction film Men in Black 3.

Television

• AMC's Rubicon in the role of James Wheeler.
• Ugly Betty as a recurring member in the show's third season in 2009 for the final five episodes of that season, and remained in the cast until mid-season four when his character's arc ended.
• All My Children in 2008, in the role of Robert Gardner.
• Bored to Death, in the role of Bernard, the nemesis to Ted Danson's character.
• He appeared on the May 11, 2012 episode of Primetime: What Would You Do?, when he inadvertently walked into the scene the producers and actors were putting on, where an employee dropped a customer's package and broke what was in it. David chose not to tell on the employee, and played along, saying, "I didn't hear anything."
• DAG, the short-lived 2001 television series, in the role of the President.
• Early-1990s NBC sitcom Nurses.
• Columbo in 1997 as a forensic investigator.
• The West Wing episode "The State Dinner", playing a Democratic Party supporter who is also escorting Sam Seaborn's call-girl girlfriend.
• Monk in the episode "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School", 2003, as a gym teacher.

Filmography

• Men in Black 3 - Agent X (2012)
• Die verlorene Zeit - Daniel Levine (2011)
• In the Loop - Linton Barwick (2009)
• Olhos Azuis - Marshall (2009)
• Crimes of the Past - Thomas Sparrow (2009)
• Burn After Reading - CIA Officer Palmer(2008)
• The Girl in the Park - Doug (2007)
• The Sentinel - President Ballentine (2006)
• Just Married - Mr. McNerney (2003)
• Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Taylor Abbott (2002)
• The Big Tease - Stig Ludwigssen (1999)
• Friends & Lovers - Richard 'Richie' Wickham (1999)
• That Old Feeling - Alan (1997)
• Magic in the Water - Phillip (1995)
• Delirious - Dr. Paul Kirkwood/Dennis (1991)
• An Innocent Man - Detective Mike Parnell (1989)
• Made in Heaven - Donald Sumner (1987)
• Cobra - Dan (1986)
• ABC Grammar Rock - (1985)
• Best Defense - Jeff the 'KBG' Agent (1984)
• Fighting Back - Michael Taylor (1982)
• Honky Tonk Freeway - Eddie White (1981)

External links

• David Rasche at IMDb
• David Rasche at AllMovie