Randy Quaid life and biography

Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films such as The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain.

He has won a Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy Award and a BAFTA Award.

Quaid has appeared in over 90 movies. Peter Bogdanovich discovered him when Quaid was a student at the University of Houston, and he received his first exposure in Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show.
His character escorts Jacy Farrow (played by Cybill Shepherd) to late-night indoor skinny-dipping at a swimming pool. It was the first of his several roles directed by Bogdanovich and/or based on the writings of Larry McMurtry.

Quaid's first major role was in the critically acclaimed The Last Detail (1973). He played a young US Navy sailor on his way to serve a harsh sentence for stealing $40 from an admiral's wife's pet charity. Jack Nicholson played the Navy sailor assigned to transport him to prison. Nicholson's character eventually becomes his friend and mentor, helping him experience different aspects of life before he goes behind bars.

Quaid was nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and an Academy Award for his role in The Last Detail. He was also nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years.
He was featured in two science fiction movies, the unsuccessful Martians Go Home and Independence Day. Other movie roles include Kingpin, where he played the lovable Amish bowler Ishmael alongside Woody Harrelson and Vanessa Angel, a loser father in Not Another Teen Movie, and an obnoxious neighbor to Richard Pryor's character in Moving.
He played the lead role in the HBO movie Dead Solid Perfect, a golfer trying to make it on the PGA Tour. He also appeared in the National Lampoon Vacation movies as Cousin Eddie to Chevy Chase's Clark W. Griswold. Shortly after starring in National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, Randy Quaid was also featured in Days of Thunder as comical NASCAR car owner and successful car salesman Tim Dailand, a determined businessman who expects his team to be top-notch for fans and sponsors.
Quaid had a pivotal supporting role in Brokeback Mountain (2005) as an insensitive rancher.

On March 23, 2006, Quaid filed a lawsuit for $10 million plus punitive damages against Focus Features, Del Mar Productions, James Schamus and David Linde, alleging that they both intentionally and negligently misrepresented Brokeback Mountain as "a low-budget, art house film with no prospect of making any money" to secure Quaid's acting services at a considerably lower rate than his typical fee. The film grossed over $160 million. On May 5, 2006, Quaid dropped his lawsuit after he was advised that a financial resolution would be made.

Quaid received both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his 2005 portrayal of talent manager Colonel Tom Parker in the critically acclaimed CBS television network mini-series Elvis. Quaid's other television appearances include a season as a Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member (1985–1986), the role of real-life gunslinger John Wesley Hardin in the miniseries Streets of Laredo and starring roles in the short-lived series The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire (2003) and Davis Rules (1991–1992), as well as the two part TV film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, playing the character of Lenny. He was featured in the highly-rated TV movies Category 6: Day of Destruction and Category 7: The End of the World and starred in Last Rites, a made-for-cable Starz/Encore! premiere movie.

Quaid also voiced the animated Colonel Sanders character in radio and television commercials for fast-food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken. Quaid's voice-over work also included a guest role in The Ren and Stimpy Show (as Anthony's father in the second season episode, "A Visit to Anthony").

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