DAVID RASCHE

Tall, blond, ruggedly handsome actor of stage, film and TV David Rasche may be best remembered by sitcom cultists as the dim-witted but gung ho hero of SledgeHammer! (ABC, 1986-88), a likeable broad parody of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry and his ilk, and as Jack Trenton, the crooked financier doing court-ordered hospital community service on two seasons of NBC's Nurses (1992-94). He had one of his best feature film roles playing Bette Midler's “Let's feel good” shrink husband in That Old Feeling (1997), but Rasche may be somewhat more proud of his distinguished stage credits, on Broadway and elsewhere, including David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, Michael Cristofer's The Shadow Box, Milan Kundera's Jacques and His Master and Lunch Hour, opposite Gilda Radner. Rasche trained at Chicago 's celebrated Second City where he replaced John Belushi in the company that then included Radner, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. He went on to become a familiar face on TV and in films. Rasche's extensive TV credits include guest shots on Miami Vice and Kate and Allie, recurring roles on L.A. Law and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, and Sara. He was the smarmy co-owner of a publishing house on the short-lived CBS comedy High Society (1995-96). Features have provided more opportunities for the stage veteran. Rasche debuted playing an actor in Woody Allen's TV show in Manhattan (1979) and went on to play bit parts and supporting roles in Native Son (1986), as the DA who prosecutes Bigger Thomas, in Alan Rudolph's Made in Heaven (1987), and as a naked man who encounters prospective homeowner Kelly McGillis.   He is especially remembered for his acclaimed performances as a dirty cop who helps frame Tom Selleck in An Innocent Man (1989), and as a morally ambiguous denizen of John Candy's soap opera world in Delirious (1991). His work in TV movies began with Sanctuary of Fear (NBC, 1979), and has also included NBC's experimental Special Bulletin (1983), as well as HBO's stunning Barbarians at the Gate (1993). Rasche has also done voice work for animated projects, and was the voice of Virgil for the CBS Saturday morning Santo Bugito in 1995. As a playwright, Rasche first saw his work produced in 1994, with both a N.Y. and an L.A. production of Jackie.

Most recently, he delighted audiences as the evil Norwegian hairdresser in The Big Tease, as Ashley Judd's stern father in The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood,  and as Brittany Murphy's doting Dad in Just Married.  He is now off to New York to appear with JoBeth Williams in Last Dance, a new play by Marsha Norman (Night Mother) at the Manhattan Theater Club.

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