Raye Birk

Acting

Raye Birk

Born 1943-05-27 · Flint, Michigan, USA

Raye Birk (born May 27, 1943, Flint, Michigan) is an American film and television actor best known for playing the role of Pahpshmir in the first and last of the Naked Gun movies. He was the main villain in Naked Gun 33​1⁄3: The Final Insult. He has also starred in Due South as the terrorist Francis Bolt in the Episodes "All the Queens Horses", "Red, White and Blue", "Call of the Wild Part One" and "Call of the Wild Part Two". He also had roles in the X-Files and Babylon 5. His other film credits include roles in Best Defense (1984), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Doc Hollywood (1991) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). In addition to these roles, he had a frequently occurring role as the assistant principal on The Wonder Years; starting with the pilot episode, when he had a conference with Kevin Arnold's parents for throwing food in the cafeteria. While generally antagonist, a more sympathetic role on the show was seen in the award winning episode "Goodbye" where he confides in Kevin that he is Kevin's new math teacher as Kevin's hardnosed algebra teacher has just died. He was also on a pair of Home Improvement episodes as one of Tim's poker buddies. Raye appeared in several episodes on the TV series Night Court. He appeared twice on The Golden Girls, both times playing a wedding caterer. Furthermore, in 1985, 1986 and 1992, he appeared on three episodes of Cheers as Walt Twitchell, a mailman who got into minor altercations with Cliff Clavin. Birk reprised the role of Twitchell in a 2002 episode of the Cheers spinoff series, Frasier, in which the title character (played by Kelsey Grammer) returned to Boston and re-acquainted himself with old friends from the bar. He played a recurring role on Coach as university band director Riley Pringle from 1989 to 1993. He also appeared in an episode of Mr. Belvedere as an accordion player. In 2004–2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Raye has been married to his wife Candace Barrett for 41 years. They have one son, Joshua, who is a professor of medieval history.

Acting credits

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult poster
6.5

Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

1994

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! poster
7.3

When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

1988

North Country poster
7.3

A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States — Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.

North Country

2005

Throw Momma from the Train poster
6.2

Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.

Throw Momma from the Train

1987

Star Trek: Insurrection poster
6.5

When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to defend the planet's people as well as the very ideals upon which the Federation itself was founded.

Star Trek: Insurrection

1998

The War of the Roses poster
6.9

Barbara and Oliver Rose live happily as a married couple. When Barbara starts to wonder what life would be like without Oliver and likes what she sees, the two begin a campaign to force each other to leave their house, with their divorce lawyer D'Amato caught in the middle.

The War of the Roses

1989

A Serious Man poster
6.7

It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.

A Serious Man

2009

Doc Hollywood poster
6.4

After leaving Washington D.C. hospital, plastic surgeon Ben Stone heads for California, where a lucrative practice in Beverly Hills awaits. After a car accident, he's sentenced to perform as the community's general practitioner.

Doc Hollywood

1991

Best Defense poster
4.3

An engineer fails to get the bugs out of a tank before an Army officer has to use it in Kuwait.

Best Defense

1984

Burglar poster
5.2

Bernice "Bernie" Rhodenbarr is a burglar by trade, and she runs a bookstore as well. Her friend Carl Hefler is a dog groomer. After a successful burglary, it's discovered that a dead body was in the house she burgled. As she's the only one who can be placed at the scene of the crime, she has to use her criminal skills to clear her name of the murder AND avoid getting charged with the burglary.

Burglar

1987

Class Act poster
6.3

Duncan is a genius straight A student, Blade is ajuvenile delinquent. But because of a mix up with their school records, everyone thinks each is the other one. Now, Duncan kind of likes the attention from being thought of as a real bad dude, if only the school bully would stop trying to rough him up. And Blade definitely likes being thought of as important instead of as trouble.

Class Act

1992

Factotum poster
6.2

This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.

Factotum

2005

Challenger poster
6.5

A profile of the astronauts, crew, and civilians who were involved in the January 28, 1986 flight of the spaceship, Challenger, that resulted in its explosion upon takeoff. The center point of the film is the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the use of the o-rings that ultimately were blamed for the explosion.

Challenger

1990

Mister Roberts poster
7.5

Set aboard a navy cargo ship during World War II, this comedic drama follows Lt. Doug Roberts, who battles boredom and a tyrannical captain to the admiration of Ensign Pulver, Doc, and the crew.

Mister Roberts

1984

Sweet Land poster
6.3

Set in 1920, Inge travels from Germany to rural Minnesota in order to meet the man destined to be her husband.

Sweet Land

2005

Barbarians at the Gate poster
6.9

F. Ross Johnson decides to buyout his own tobacco firm RJR Nabisco after the plans of the launch of his new product, a smokeless cigarette Premier, fail on account of market rumours.

Barbarians at the Gate

1993

Aftermath: A Test of Love poster
5.9

Based on a true story, an adoring wife and mother is taken hostage during a robbery and brutally murdered.

Aftermath: A Test of Love

1991

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson poster
7.0

Ken Malansky, a law student of Perry Mason's, is accused of murdering a fellow student. Perry is reluctant to take on his case as the victim was the son of a close friend.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson

1989

Illegal in Blue poster
3.9

A cop taking personal leave after he witnesses money stolen from the police property room becomes involved with a beautiful singer who may have killed her husband.

Illegal in Blue

1995

Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It. poster
4.3

A gas is let loose upon the world that kills anyone over 25 years old.

Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.

1970

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again poster
7.3

The classic comic characters return, partaking in their Riverdale High 15th anniversary reunion! But when Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is under the danger of being closed down for good, Archie, along with his pals n' gals, find a way to help out their friend and keep the youth of Riverdale intact with a good burger and milkshake!

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again

1990

Caught in the Act poster
6.1

An unemployed actor is mixed up in a case about a $10,000,000 bank fraud.

Caught in the Act

1993

No artwork available
3.0

This is a story of Jimmy, a high school senior, who is struggling with his school life, family pressures, future choices. When it becomes too much, Jimmy kills himself.

After Jimmy

1996

Cries from the Heart poster
6.0

Michael, a young autistic boy who has trouble with verbalization but a real talent for technology, uses a computer to plead for help after being molested at his school.

Cries from the Heart

1994