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{{Short description|American actor (born 1954)}}
{{for|the news correspondent|Rich Edson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox person
|name        = Richard Edson
|image       = Richard Edson.jpg
|caption     = Edson in 2006
|birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1954|1|1}}
|birth_place = [[New Rochelle, New York]], U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|years_active = 1979–present
|occupation  = Actor, musician
}}

'''Richard Edson''' (born January 1, 1954)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/newrochelle/neighbors/happy-birthday-to-new-rochelles-richard-edson/429015/ | title=Happy Birthday to New Rochelle's Richard Edson | date=January 2014 }}</ref> is an American actor and musician.

==Personal life==
Edson was born in [[New Rochelle, New York]] to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the [[Boston]] area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides in [[Newton, Massachusetts]], and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father, Arnold (1917–2012), was one of the first Marine officers to land at [[Battle of Guadalcanal|Guadalcanal]] in August 1942. After the war, his father became a toy manufacturer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/herald/name/arnold-edson-obituary?pid=157633019 | title=Arnold George Edson Obituary (1917 - 2012) the Miami Herald | website=[[Legacy.com]] }}</ref> His mother, Marian, a retired school teacher, resides in New Rochelle.

==Music career==
In 1979, Edson was a founding member of the San Francisco art rock band The Alterboys with [[Lionel White (musician)|Snuky Tate]], Tono Rondone, Richard Kelly and JC Garrett, playing both drums and trumpet.  From 1981 to 1982, he was [[Sonic Youth]]'s original drummer and played drums for [[Konk (band)|Konk]] at the same time. After the release of Sonic Youth's [[Sonic Youth (EP)|self-titled debut EP]], Edson left the band to play with Konk full-time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Browne|first=David|title=Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth|publisher=Del Capo Press|year=2008|pages=79–80}}</ref> Edson also played trumpet with San Francisco band [[The Offs]] on the group's eponymous 1984 album.

==Acting career==
Following his music career, Edson has worked as an actor, appearing in over 35 movies.  His more notable roles include a disreputable [[parking garage]] attendant in ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'' (1986), man at newspaper stand in ''[[Desperately Seeking Susan]]'' (1985), Richie in ''[[Howard the Duck (film)|Howard the Duck]]'' (1986), Eddie in [[Jim Jarmusch]]'s [[cult film]] ''[[Stranger Than Paradise]]'' (1984), real-life gambler Billy Maharg in ''[[Eight Men Out]]'' (1988), and the title character in ''[[Joey Breaker]]'' (1993).  He also appeared in ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' (1986), ''[[Good Morning, Vietnam]]'' (1987), ''[[Tougher Than Leather (film)|Tougher Than Leather]]'' (1988), ''[[Let It Ride (film)|Let It Ride]]'' (1989), and ''[[Do the Right Thing]]'' (1989). He starred in the 1993 movie ''[[Super Mario Bros. (film)|Super Mario Bros]]'' as Spike, [[Bowser|King Koopa]]'s cousin. In 1987, Edson performed live a main role in the [[Scott B]] and [[Joseph Nechvatal]] collaboration called ''Not a Door: A Spectacle'' at [[Hallwalls]], based on the poetry of [[St. John of the Cross]], [[Flaubert]]'s ''Temptation of St. Anthony'' and works of [[Jean Genet]] and [[Georges Bataille]].<ref>{{cite web|work=Hallwalls.org|url=https://www.hallwalls.org/performance/1470.html|title=Scott B and Joseph Nechvatal : ''Not a Door: A Spectacle'' at Hallwalls|date=September 1987}}</ref>

Edson played the lead role in three films directed by [[Raphael Nadjari]]: ''[[The Shade (film)|The Shade]]'' (1999), ''[[I Am Josh Polonski's Brother]]'' (2001)<ref>{{cite web|archivedate=January 16, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081153/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v246212|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:246212|publisher=[[AllMovie]]|title=I Am Josh Polonski's Brother}}</ref> and ''Apartment #5c'' (2002). In 2003, he appeared in the music video for [[Cave In]]'s single, "Anchor". Edson played the central character of the video, a depressed man walking down the street with his feet encased in cement blocks. He also appeared in Frankenfish 2004.

His television appearances include ''[[The Adventures of Pete & Pete]]''; the [[The Gas Man|third-season finale]] of ''[[Homicide: Life on the Street]]''; and the 1990–91 series ''[[Shannon's Deal]]'', produced by [[John Sayles]]. Edson appeared in a 2007 TV commercial for The [[Travelers Companies]] Inc., in which he plays the human personification of risk.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==Selected filmography==
{{Div col}}
* 1984 ''[[Stranger Than Paradise]]'' as Eddie
* 1985 ''[[Desperately Seeking Susan]]'' as Man With Newspapers
* 1986 ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'' as Garage Attendant 
* 1986 ''[[Howard the Duck (film)|Howard the Duck]]'' as Ritchie 
* 1986 ''[[Crime Story (U.S. TV series)|Crime Story]]'' (TV Series) as Jake Rennick 
* 1986 ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' as Sal 
* 1986 ''[[Walker (film)|Walker]]'' as Turley 
* 1987 ''[[Good Morning, Vietnam]]'' as Private Abersold 
* 1988 ''[[Eight Men Out]]'' as [[Detroit Tigers replacement players (May 18, 1912)#Billy Maharg|Billy Maharg]]
* 1988 ''[[Tougher Than Leather (film)|Tougher Than Leather]]'' as Bernie Carteez 
* 1988 ''The Chair'' as Riot Leader 
* 1989 ''[[Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989 film)|Bloodhounds of Broadway]]'' as Johnny Crackow 
* 1989 ''[[Do the Right Thing]]'' as Vito 
* 1989 ''[[Let It Ride (film)|Let It Ride]]'' as Johnny Casino
* 1989 ''[[China Lake (film)|China Lake]]'' as Connie Veesk 
* 1989 ''[[Monsters (American TV series)|Monsters]]'' (TV Series) as Jack Bateman 
* 1990-1991 ''[[Shannon's Deal]]'' (TV series)
* 1991 ''[[Eyes of an Angel (film)|Eyes of an Angel]]'' as Goon
* 1992 ''Love Is Like That'' as Bubba-Lilly
* 1992 ''[[Crossing the Bridge]]'' as Mitchell 
* 1993 ''Split Ends'' (TV Series) as Eric 
* 1993 ''[[Joey Breaker]]'' as Joey Breaker
* 1993 ''Posse'' as Deputy Tom
* 1993 ''[[Super Mario Bros. (film)|Super Mario Bros.]]'' as [[List of Mario franchise characters|Spike]] 
* 1993 ''[[What About Me (film)|What About Me]]'' as Nick
* 1993 ''[[Love, Cheat & Steal]]'' as Billy Quayle 
* 1995 ''[[Jury Duty (film)|Jury Duty]]'' as Skeets
* 1995 ''[[Destiny Turns on the Radio]]'' as Gage
* 1995 ''[[Strange Days (film)|Strange Days]]'' as 'Tick'
* 1996 ''[[Scorpion Spring]]'' as Lem Wells 
* 1996 ''Marco Polo The Missing Chapter'' as Bergman
* 1996 ''[[Things I Never Told You|Cosas que nunca te dije]]'' as Steve
* 1996 ''[[The Winner (1996 film)|The Winner]]'' as Frankie
* 1996 ''[[Wedding Bell Blues (film)|Wedding Bell Blues]]'' as Tom 
* 1996 ''An Occasional Hell'' as Rodney Gillen 
* 1997 ''[[This World, Then the Fireworks]]'' as Joe
* 1997 ''[[Snide and Prejudice]]'' as Rudolph Hess 
* 1997 ''Double Tap'' as Fischer 
* 1998 ''[[Lulu on the Bridge]]'' as Dave Reilly
* 1998 ''[[Thick as Thieves (1998 film)|Thick as Thieves]]'' as Danny
* 1999 ''[[Purgatory (1999 film)|Purgatory]]'' (TV Movie) as Euripides
* 1999 ''[[The Shade (1998 film)|The Shade]]'' as Simon
* 1999 ''Jack of Hearts'' as Henry
* 2000 ''[[Cement (film)|Cement]]'' as Robbo
* 2000 ''[[The Million Dollar Hotel]]'' as Joe
* 2000 ''[[Timecode (film)|Timecode]]'' as Lester Moore 
* 2000 ''[[Picking Up the Pieces (film)|Picking Up the Pieces]]'' as Edsel Farkus 
* 2000 ''[[A Man Is Mostly Water]]'' as Bud Guy 
* 2000 ''[[Desperate But Not Serious]]'' as Screenwriter 
* 2001 ''[[I Am Josh Polonski's Brother]]'' as Abe Polonski 
* 2001 ''Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician'' as Thomas
* 2001 ''P.O.V. - Point of View'' as Fool On Hill 
* 2002  ''[[Sunshine State (film)|Sunshine State]]'' as Steve Tregaskis
* 2002 ''Apartment #5C'' as Harold 
* 2003 ''Highway to Oblivion'' (TV Movie) as Leslie
* 2004 ''[[Starsky & Hutch (film)|Starsky & Hutch]]'' as Monix
* 2004 ''[[Land of Plenty]]'' as Jimmy 
* 2004 ''[[Frankenfish]]'' (TV Movie) as Roland 
* 2004 ''Goodnight, Joseph Parker'' as Frankie 
* 2005 ''Welcome to California'' as Husband / Sylvio
* 2005 ''[[The Kid & I]]'' as Guy Prince 
* 2006 ''Hard Scrambled'' as Joe
* 2006 ''[[The Astronaut Farmer]]'' as Chopper Miller 
* 2006 ''Cut Off'' as Mikey 
* 2007 ''Under There'' (Short) as Roman
* 2008 ''[[Japan (2008 film)|Japan]]'' as Gus 
* 2008 ''Momma's Man'' as Tom 
* 2008 ''[[Columbus Day (film)|Columbus Day]]'' as Manny
* 2008 ''[[Vicious Circle (2008 film)|Vicious Circle]]'' as John
* 2009 ''[[Black Dynamite]]'' as Dino
* 2009 ''[[The Smell of Success]]'' as Nelly 'The Nose '
* 2009 ''The Greims'' (Short) as Larry
* 2010 ''[[NUMB3RS]]'' (TV Series) as Nick Rowland
* 2010 ''[[Happiness Runs]]'' as Pete 
* 2010 ''Hands & Eyes'' (Short) as The Artist 
* 2012 ''[[A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III]]'' as Sanchez 
* 2012 ''Averageman''
* 2014 ''Dark Hearts'' as Ravetti
* 2015 ''3 Holes and a Smoking Gun'' as Sam Dunkim
* 2015 ''Dutch Book'' as Billy Santiago
* 2018 ''Burning Shadow'' as Ronald
* 2019 ''[[3 From Hell]]'' as Carlos Perro
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|0002057|Richard Edson}}
{{Sonic Youth}}
{{Tito & Tarantula}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edson, Richard}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Jewish American musicians]]
[[Category:Jewish American male actors]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American rock drummers]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:Noise rock musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from New Rochelle, New York]]
[[Category:Male actors from New Rochelle, New York]]
[[Category:Sonic Youth members]]
[[Category:No wave musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American drummers]]
[[Category:American male drummers]]
[[Category:Tito & Tarantula members]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Drummers from New York (state)]]