Raye Birk
Raye Birk (born May 27, 1943, Flint, Michigan) is an American film and television actor best known for playing the role of Pahpshmir in the first and last of the Naked Gun movies. He was the main villain in Naked Gun 331⁄3: The Final Insult. He has also starred in Due South as the terrorist Francis Bolt in the Episodes "All the Queens Horses", "Red, White and Blue", "Call of the Wild Part One" and "Call of the Wild Part Two". He also had roles in the X-Files and Babylon 5. His other film credits include roles in Best Defense (1984), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Doc Hollywood (1991) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998).
In addition to these roles, he had a frequently occurring role as the assistant principal on The Wonder Years; starting with the pilot episode, when he had a conference with Kevin Arnold's parents for throwing food in the cafeteria. While generally antagonist, a more sympathetic role on the show was seen in the award winning episode "Goodbye" where he confides in Kevin that he is Kevin's new math teacher as Kevin's hardnosed algebra teacher has just died. He was also on a pair of Home Improvement episodes as one of Tim's poker buddies. Raye appeared in several episodes on the TV series Night Court. He appeared twice on The Golden Girls, both times playing a wedding caterer.
Furthermore, in 1985, 1986 and 1992, he appeared on three episodes of Cheers as Walt Twitchell, a mailman who got into minor altercations with Cliff Clavin. Birk reprised the role of Twitchell in a 2002 episode of the Cheers spinoff series, Frasier, in which the title character (played by Kelsey Grammer) returned to Boston and re-acquainted himself with old friends from the bar. He played a recurring role on Coach as university band director Riley Pringle from 1989 to 1993. He also appeared in an episode of Mr. Belvedere as an accordion player.
In 2004–2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Raye has been married to his wife Candace Barrett for 41 years. They have one son, Joshua, who is a professor of medieval history.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 1.0595 |
| Birthday | 1943-05-27 |
| Place of Birth | Flint, Michigan, USA |
| Also Known As | Ray Birk, |
1992
Class Act
6.2/118
Duncan is a genius straight A student, Blade is juvenile delinquent. But because of a mix up with their school records, everyone thinks each is the ot...
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Class Act
1988
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
7.275/4466
When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen...
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The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1976
The Taming of the Shrew
6.917/6
San Francisco's prize-winning American Conservatory Theater's rowdy commedia dell'arte production incorporates slapstick, pratfall and earthy humor in...
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The Taming of the Shrew
1993
Caught in the Act
6.125/4
An unemployed actor is mixed up in a case about a $10,000,000 bank fraud.
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Caught in the Act
1991
Aftermath: A Test of Love
5.857/7
Based on a true story, an adoring wife and mother is taken hostage during a robbery and brutally murdered.
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Aftermath: A Test of Love
1987
Throw Momma from the Train
6.2/645
Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. Wh...
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Throw Momma from the Train
1987
Burglar
5.212/106
Bernice "Bernie" Rhodenbarr is a burglar by trade, and she runs a bookstore as well. Her friend Carl Hefler is a dog groomer. After a successful burgl...
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Burglar
1984
Mister Roberts
7.5/3
Set aboard a navy cargo ship during World War II, this comedic drama follows Lt. Doug Roberts, who battles boredom and a tyrannical captain to the adm...
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Mister Roberts
1987
The Stepford Children
5/15
Steven and Laura Harding, along with their kids David and Mary, have moved to the quiet community of Stepford. Steven joins the men's club, which is s...
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The Stepford Children
1996
After Jimmy
3.5/2
This is a story of Jimmy, a high school senior, who is struggling with his school life, family pressures, future choices. When it becomes too much, Ji...
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After Jimmy
1994
Cries from the Heart
6/5
Michael, a young autistic boy who has trouble with verbalization but a real talent for technology, uses a computer to plead for help after being moles...
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Cries from the Heart
1991
Under Cover
8/1
A seasoned operative pursues a dangerous mission: to prevent the assassination of a high-ranking Soviet reformer. Meanwhile, his best friend believes...
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Under Cover
1994
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
6.505/2498
Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for wh...
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Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1984
Best Defense
4.335/130
An engineer fails to get the bugs out of a tank before an Army officer has to use it in Kuwait.
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Best Defense
1991
Doc Hollywood
6.359/675
After leaving Washington D.C. hospital, plastic surgeon Ben Stone heads for California, where a lucrative practice in Beverly Hills awaits. After a ca...
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Doc Hollywood
1970
Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.
4.298/42
A gas is let loose upon the world that kills anyone over 25 years old.
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Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.
1990
Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
7.424/33
The classic comic characters return, partaking in their Riverdale High 15th anniversary reunion! But when Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is under the danger o...
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Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
1990
Challenger
6.5/6
A profile of the astronauts, crew, and civilians who were involved in the January 28, 1986 flight of the spaceship, Challenger, that resulted in its e...
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Challenger
1981
A Christmas Carol
7/1
Televised stage performance based on Charles Dickens' novella.
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A Christmas Carol
2005
Sweet Land
6.441/51
Set in 1920, Inge travels from Germany to rural Minnesota in order to meet the man destined to be her husband.
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Sweet Land
1985
Deadly Messages
5.818/11
When Laura unearths an old Ouija board in her closet, her roommate, Cindy, uses it and encounters the spirit of a man that had been murdered in their...
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Deadly Messages
1989
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
7/11
Ken Malansky, a law student of Perry Mason's, is accused of murdering a fellow student. Perry is reluctant to take on his case as the victim was the s...
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Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
1998
Star Trek: Insurrection
6.444/1340
When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and th...
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Star Trek: Insurrection
2005
Factotum
6.181/218
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live...
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Factotum
2016
New Neighbors
5/1
In the face of the killings and assaults on black lives, a mother is determined to keep her two sons safe once they've moved to a new neighborhood.
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New Neighbors
2009
A Serious Man
6.703/2345
It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him....
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A Serious Man
1995
Illegal in Blue
3.938/8
A cop taking personal leave after he witnesses money stolen from the police property room becomes involved with a beautiful singer who may have killed...
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Illegal in Blue
1995
My Brother's Keeper
1/1
A man and his HIV-positive twin take an insurance company to court over a possibly life-saving bone marrow transplant.
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My Brother's Keeper
2005
North Country
7.231/731
A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States — Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endure...
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North Country
1996
The Big Squeeze
4.25/4
Benny, a hapless grifter, is thrown off a train after cheating at cards, and into the life of Tanya, a lovely bartender. Tanya has been supporting her...
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The Big Squeeze
1993
Barbarians at the Gate
6.878/49
F. Ross Johnson decides to buyout his own tobacco firm RJR Nabisco after the plans of the launch of his new product, a smokeless cigarette Premier, fa...
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Barbarians at the Gate
Seed of Doubt
0/0
AVAILABLE NOW ON BLOXoffice. Get your tickets at www.SEEDofDOUBTmovie.com Melissa and Scott's dream home turns into a nightmare for the young couple...
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