Ray Walston was in a ton of motion pictures and television before he played the teacher, Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). But that role was the first and only memorable one for me until fairly recently, when I saw him on a classic channel in Kiss Me, Stupid with Dean Martin and Kim Novak (1964). He was insane and insanely funny in his role as Orville Jeremiah
Spooner--piano teacher, aspiring songwriter and jealous husband of an improbably beautiful wife.
He was in lots of stuff after playing Mr. Hand, but it was this role that stuck in my mind and I suspect, in the minds of people from my generation. Meanwhile, around the same time (1986) a man mostly known as an economist and author would play a small role as a teacher and it would launch his career in acting.
Update: According to the Oracle...
Ray Walston
was in
House Arrest (1996)
with
Ben Stein (I)
He was in lots of stuff after playing Mr. Hand, but it was this role that stuck in my mind and I suspect, in the minds of people from my generation. Meanwhile, around the same time (1986) a man mostly known as an economist and author would play a small role as a teacher and it would launch his career in acting.
Posts
2 comments:
One was my favortie martian and the other one acts like a martian. Just sayn'
See, another connection between them.
I wonder if they were in anything together.
I could look for overlap in their Bacon number...
Post a Comment