Gerrit Graham (1949-2026)

[Never Cursed]

Gerrit Graham - Beef in Phantom of the Paradise

[domino harvey]

Gerrit Graham - Beef in Phantom of the Paradise

And Franklin Sherman

[okcmaxk]

Gerrit Graham - Beef in Phantom of the Paradise

Steals Used Cars for most of the film and caps it off with the greatest stunt by a non-professional (besides a house falling on Tom Green).

The best scene in Greetings is his JFK monologue, and he’s equally great in Hi, Mom!.

[beamish14]

Gerrit Graham - Beef in Phantom of the Paradise

Being the husband of Jenny Agutter in Child’s Play 2 was brilliant casting.

I’ve always been curious about how he earned all those writing credits on Disney animated films like The Little Mermaid. He also wrote Robert Downey, Sr.’s episode of the 1980’s Twilight Zone revival

[flyonthewall2983]

I remember him in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose

[colinr0380]

I think the first thing I saw him in as a kid was as a bad guy in Police Academy 6: City Under Siege!

Of course his rock star Beef in De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (and his big musical number. With the same electrical fizzing and crackling sound effects that were later used in Carrie!) is the big one, but he also turns up as the expendable victim trying to save Julie Christie from her computerised house in Donald Cammell's Demon Seed.

And I presume at least domino will fondly remember him turning up as the father of the family in the comic-horror of TerrorVision and Chopping Mall (doing sort of the opposite of Demon Seed, and letting the killer robots run amok on his watch!), both from 1986.

Plus he is apparently somewhere in Louis Malle's 1978 underage prostitute film Pretty Baby!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Gerrit Graham - Beef in Phantom of the Paradise

Steals Used Cars for most of the film and caps it off with the greatest stunt by a non-professional (besides a house falling on Tom Green).

The best scene in Greetings is his JFK monologue, and he’s equally great in Hi, Mom!.

The scene where Gerrit Graham scams the family by pretending they killed his dog is one of the highlights of Used Cars.

My introduction to Gerrit Graham was probably his role as Franklin Sherman in The Critic. Will forever associate him with this moment.

[The Narrator Returns]

“Take that, Guernica!”

[domino harvey]

No idea if it’s true but his IMDB says he was also a writer for Pop Up Video