Watch Randy Quaid Online

Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Juanita Bonniedale "Nita" (nee Jordan), a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. Quaid is married to former Helmut Newton model Evi Quaid, and is the elder brother of fellow actor Dennis Quaid. He attended Pershing Middle School and Bellaire High School (Houston).

In a career that spans over 30 years, he has appeared in over 90 movies. Peter Bogdanovich discovered him when Quaid was a student at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. He received his first exposure in 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 several roles he has had which were directed by Bogdanovich and/or based on the writings of Larry McMurtry.

Quaid's first major role was in the critically acclaimed seventies film The Last Detail. He played a young navy sailor on his way to serve a harsh sentence for stealing a few dollars from an Admiral's pet charity. Jack Nicholson played the quintessential seventies era navy lifer 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.

He was nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and an Academy Award for his role in The Last Detail (1973). He was also nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years (1987). He was featured (with Margaret Colin) in two science fiction movies, the unsuccessful Martians Go Home and very successful Independence Day. Other movies include Kingpin, where he played the lovable Amish bowler Ishmael, alongside Woody Harrelson and Weird Science (the television version) cast member 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 as a golfer trying to make it on the PGA Tour.

In 2005, Quaid starred as Bill Geurrard in The Ice Harvest. His chilling portrayal of a Kansas City mob boss was voted as one of the Top 10 Film Gangsters of all-time in a UK poll, the number one slot went to Marlon Brando.

Quaid had a pivotal supporting role in the Academy Award-winning drama Brokeback Mountain (2005) in which he played a homophobic rancher whose two male employees are the movie's main characters. 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 being, "a low-budget, art house film with no prospect of making any money" in order to secure Quaid's professional acting services at a considerably lower rate than his typical fee. The film then grossed over $160 million. On May 5, 2006, Quaid dropped his lawsuit after he was advised that a financial resolution would be made.

In 2007, Quaid portrayed King Carlos IV in Goya's Ghosts, a role for which he learned to play the violin, and he starred in the comedy Ball's Out: The Gary Houseman Story (2008) alongside Sean William Scott.

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