Randy Quaid Sued By Entire Cast Of Play, Will Never Work On Stage Again!

Posted by roasty on February 12th, 2008
Filed in Acting, Entertainment, Laws, Movies, News

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Actor Randy Quaid has been banned for life from the Actors’ Equity Association as the result of fellow actors’ lawsuit over his behavior during the 2007 run of “Lone Star Love” at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, according to the New York Post and Reuters.

The Post reported that the union fined him $81,572 for his actions in Seattle, the equivalent of two weeks’ salary for the cast, and that all 26 members of the cast brought charges against Quaid.

The performers said he “physically and verbally abused his fellow performers and that his oddball behavior forced the show to close,” the Post reported.

The union represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States, according to its website.

Rumors about Quaid’s backstage behavior and that of his wife, Evi Quaid, circulated throughout the theater community during the 5th Avenue’s September stand of “Lone Star Love.” Citing illness, Quaid, who played the role of Falstaff, missed the final week of performances for the show, a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” that received lukewarm reviews.

5th Avenue Theatre artistic director David Armstrong said last fall that he took the unusual step of criticizing Quaid’s professionalism at the show’s final performance in Seattle.

“I wanted to acknowledge the [rest of the] company, who were a class act,” Armstrong said. “They worked very hard under very, very difficult conditions.”

A five-member hearing committee in Los Angeles issued Equity’s ruling, said Equity spokeswoman Maria Somma. Reached late Friday, she said the union would not release the ruling or comment on the nature of the complaints against Quaid in fairness to the actor, since the ruling can be appealed.

Reacting to Equity’s decision, Quaid said, “I am guilty of only one thing: Giving a performance that elicited a response so deeply felt by the actors and producers with little experience of my creative process that they actually think I am Falstaff.”

A planned run on Broadway of “Lone Star Love” was canceled after the rocky Seattle run. The New York Post also reported that on Jan. 25, after actors from the show filed the Equity charges against Quaid, Evi Quaid appeared at Equity’s offices in Los Angeles and demanded documents for the hearing.

A physical altercation resulted in four Equity workers getting temporary restraining orders against Evi Quaid, and Evi Quaid obtaining a restraining order against Equity, according to documents filed by the parties in California Superior Court.

Here are just some of the complaints filed against Quaid:

• 1. During performances, he smacked a fellow actor on the back of the head.

  2. Quaid warned another actor that if he made direct eye contact with the star, he would lose his job.

  3. Quaid’s “sexually inappropriate” comments included referring to an actress’ “gynecological instruments.”

  4. Along with his wife, Evi, Quaid tried to rewrite the script and eliminate characters.

  5. Quaid missed rehearsals. On stage, he improvised lines, song lyrics and movements.

SOURCE:

• The Seattle Times