Acting

Michael Ruud

Born — Died

1944-10-07 — 1999-09-21

Place of birth

Afton, Wyoming, United States

Known for

Acting

Credits

35 titles

Michael Ruud (October 7, 1944 - September 21, 1999) was an American character actor. He graduated from the University of Utah with a Master of Fine Arts degree. He served as a sergeant in the Army from 1967-1969 during the Vietnam War. After his military service, Ruud found work in theater and film. One of his most memorable roles was as "Big Al Gateway" in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), in which his character attempted to fight Michael Myers while protecting the Lloyd sisters. He passed away on September 27, 1999, from a massive stroke in Murray, Utah.

Known for

Touched by an Angel poster
7.2

Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.

Touched by an Angel

1994

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers poster
6.2

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

1988

Geronimo: An American Legend poster
6.3

The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

Geronimo: An American Legend

1993

Red Rock West poster
6.8

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

Red Rock West

1993

The Philadelphia Experiment poster
6.1

Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.

The Philadelphia Experiment

1984

Promised Land poster
5.1

Three recent high school grads - star athlete Hancock, his cheerleader girlfriend, Mary, and the awkward Senator - aim to leave their small town behind and realize big dreams, but their idealistic plans collide with life's harsh realities.

Promised Land

1988

Film credits

1990s · 9 titles

Geronimo: An American Legend poster
6.3

The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

Geronimo: An American Legend

1993

Red Rock West poster
6.8

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

Red Rock West

1993

Double Jeopardy poster
5.2

When his lover is accused of murder, a Salt Lake City family man is her eyewitness and his wife is her attorney.

Double Jeopardy

1992

The Ballad of Little Jo poster
6.1

After being thrown out of her home, a young woman decides to disguise herself as a man to survive the ruthless Wild West.

The Ballad of Little Jo

1993

The Ticket poster
7.6

Cee Cee and her family crash land in the middle of the wilderness while on the way to collect a $23 million lottery win, and must flee for their lives after being set upon by criminals eager to steal the money for themselves.

The Ticket

1997

Love Kills poster
3.4

Glamorous fashion photographer Rebecca is getting even. Angered by her husband's infidelity, she takes a lover - a mysterious hunk she fist met during a photo shoot. He's exciting. He's handsome. And, after a night of lovemaking, he confesses he's a hit man hired by her husband to kill her. The stranger also says he's had a change of heart and wants to be Rebecca's protector. But Rebecca's husband, a renowned psychologist, insists the man is a former patient with a hidden, twisted agenda. Both men can't be right. Both could be lying. As the circle of suspense closes in on her, one thing is clear to Rebecca. Any choice she makes could be more than wrong...it could be fatal.

Love Kills

1991

The Buttercream Gang in: Secret of Treasure Mountain poster
6.3

ButterCreamer Eldon finds part of an ancient map and becomes intrigued with the search for hidden treasure. Unaware that danger lurks in the shadows, Eldon talks the other ButterCreamers into helping hunt for conquistador gold was a way to help their ailing and needy friend, Mr. Graff. But Eldon almost lets his secret wish for fame disrupt those plans. The Young man must discover something more precious than gold - that being a true hero is often nothing more than caring enough to help someone in need and preserving until that need is met.

The Buttercream Gang in: Secret of Treasure Mountain

1993

Rockwell: A Legend of the Wild West poster
2.8

The feature-film debut from writer/director Richard Lloyd Dewey, this Western stars Randy Gleave as Porter Rockwell, an outlaw looking to go straight. After landing on the right side of the law as a deputy, Rockwell assembles a team and takes on the dangerous task of bringing down a corrupt business owner. Rockwell also stars NBA superstar Karl Malone and George Sullivan.

Rockwell: A Legend of the Wild West

1994

Divided by Hate poster
7.2

When Carol Gibbs becomes involved with religious- and political-cult leader Steve Riordan's anti-government movement, she takes her children and leaves her husband Louis. Louis, a young farmer, tries every legal and governmental means to get his children back, without success. At his wit's end, he hires private investigator Danny Leland to snatch his children from the cult.

Divided by Hate

1997

1980s · 18 titles

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers poster
6.2

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

1988

The Philadelphia Experiment poster
6.1

Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.

The Philadelphia Experiment

1984

Promised Land poster
5.1

Three recent high school grads - star athlete Hancock, his cheerleader girlfriend, Mary, and the awkward Senator - aim to leave their small town behind and realize big dreams, but their idealistic plans collide with life's harsh realities.

Promised Land

1988

Hangar 18 poster
5.2

During a Space Shuttle mission a satellite rams a unidentified flying object. The UFO afterwards performs an emergency landing in the deserts of Arizona. However the White House denies its existence because of the near presidential elections. The UFO is brought to the secret Hangar 18 and the accident is blamed on the incompetence of the astronauts Bancroff and Price. But the two fight against this and try to hunt down the UFO.

Hangar 18

1980

Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills poster
6.6

Two young survivors of a wagon-train massacre battle horse thieves as they take a prize stallion through Utah.

Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills

1986

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow poster
6.8

A TV adaptation of Washington Irving's classic ghost story. Humor is the drawing card in this version, with Jeff Goldblum a nerdish Ichabod Crane, Dick Butkus an appropriately nasty Brom Bones, and Meg Foster as spirited Katrina van Tassel. Angered that Katrina has grown fond of schoolmaster Crane, Brom Bones determines to scare off the interloper by filling his head with spooky tales of a Headless Horseman. Crane pooh-poohs the legends, until one fateful ride home in the dark of night.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

1980

Konrad poster
6.0

Konrad is a factory-made child, perfect in every way. When he is mistakenly delivered to the eccentric Mrs. Bartelotti, the factory demands his return. Konrad must go against everything he has been taught to stand up to his creators.

Konrad

1985

A More Perfect Union poster
7.1

Become an eyewitness to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. This stirring 2-hour film will bring the Founding Fathers to life as you witness the struggles and the miracles that produced the Constitution of the United States and the freest nation on earth. Filmed on location at Independence Hall; Williamsburg, Virginia; and other historical sites, it dramatically chronicles how America became a nation. It is exciting drama of the best kind-fact, rather than fiction. "It brings the history books to life," writes one reviewer. "Dramatically moving, and visually handsome," says another. Officially recognized by the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, who cited the film as being "of exceptional merit."

A More Perfect Union

1989

A Hobo's Christmas poster
6.0

A hobo played by Barnard Hughes decides it's time to go home. Drifting from place to place, Hughes finds himself in his hometown of Salt Lake City at Christmas time. Here he hopes to close old wounds and be reunited with his unforgiving son played by Gerald McRaney, and get to know the grandchildren he has never met. McRaney, still resenting the fact that Hughes ran out on his family 25 years earlier, gives his father only one day with his grandkids; after that, he's expected to leave and never come back. All the while Hughes' friends warn him that his son and the past are memories that are best left alone, and should leave, but he has to find out for himself.

A Hobo's Christmas

1987

Solo poster
6.7

A woman named Liz Brantley takes a three-legged solo flight and then her plane crashes.

Solo

1984

A Killer in the Family poster
6.4

Three teenage boys break their father out of prison only to discover that he is a murderous sociopath. Based on a true story.

A Killer in the Family

1983

Stranger on My Land poster
5.2

A Vietnam veteran has to fight peacefully with words once more when the Air Force wants to expropriate his ranch for the construction of an air base.

Stranger on My Land

1988

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn poster
7.0

The escapades of Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and the runaway slave, Jim, drifting down the Mississippi on a homemade raft, and their encounter with the Duke and his cohort, Dauphin.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1981

Scorned and Swindled poster
6.0

A man seduces women to get their money. He has plenty of success, but this time he has met his match.

Scorned and Swindled

1984

Tripwire poster
6.0

A band of ruthless international terrorists led by Josef Szabo hijack a speeding railroad train loaded with a full arsenal of powerful military weaponry capable of threatening world peace. The only hero who can stop the terrorists' scheme for world domination is Jack DeForest. During the battle between good and evil the hero DeForest accidentally kills the son of the Szabo. Seeking revenge Szabo locates DeForest’s family, murders his wife and kidnaps their teenage son thereby turning their fight it into a personal vendetta. So, DeForest must fight not only to save the world, but for his only remaining family.

Tripwire

1989

Incident at Crestridge poster
4.8

A woman campaigns for and wins election as sheriff in a crusade against the ineptitude and outright corruption of the local law enforcement in a small town in the West.

Incident at Crestridge

1981

The Adventures of Nellie Bly poster
5.5

A "Classics Illustrated" account of pioneer female journalist Nellie Bly, who became a legend through her exposes of corruption and inhumane conditions in New York of the 1880s in "The New York World."

The Adventures of Nellie Bly

1981

Nashville Grab poster
9.0

A dashing, fast-living country singer almost turns Nashville upside-down after he is kidnapped by a pair of conniving female convicts determined to use him as a passport to freedom.

Nashville Grab

1981

1970s · 5 titles

The Time Machine poster
5.0

A scientist builds a machine that will enable him to travel back and forth in time, but when he puts it in motion, he gets more than he bargained for.

The Time Machine

1978

Abraham's Sacrifice poster
1.3

Tale of Abraham who battles a King for his land and who seeks revenge on Abraham for killing his son. And the birth of his son, Isaac and the scheming of a slave who wishes for his freedom and is willing to do whatever to get it. And eventually his test where he has to sacrifice Issac.

Abraham's Sacrifice

1979

Donner Pass: The Road to Survival poster
9.0

A grim incident from American pioneer history is recreated as a determined group of settlers, facing almost insurmountable odds, struggles to reach California in 1846. Already divided by internal dissension over the choice of a leader and the selection of a route, the wagon train is soon decimated by Indian raids, a scarcity of food and water, and the unrelenting forces of nature. Finally after months of hardship, the party reaches the High Sierras, only to be stranded in the middle of the pass by an early snowstorm. And as fear of an agonizing death from starvation forces the abandonment of conventional rules of human behavior, the pioneers face a new enemy - each other.

Donner Pass: The Road to Survival

1978

The Incredible Rocky Mountain Race poster
6.0

An old man observes a boy bullying his playmates and treats him to a morality lesson. The man tells the story of the epic cross-country race between a young Mark Twain and his rival, Mike Fink. The bulk of the film depicts the race, which proves to be more a test of character than of stamina

The Incredible Rocky Mountain Race

1977

The Fall of the House of Usher poster
6.5

After a long journey, a traveller and his wife arrive at the Usher mansion. Upon arriving, however, they discover that the mansion's sibling inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher, have been afflicted with a mysterious malady: Roderick's senses have become painfully acute, while Madeline has become nearly catatonic. That evening, Roderick tells his guests of an old Usher family curse: any time there has been more than one Usher child, all of the siblings have gone insane and died horrible deaths. As the days wear on, the effects of the curse reach their terrifying climax.

The Fall of the House of Usher

1979

Series credits