Rockets Redglare

Acting

Rockets Redglare

Born — Died

1949-05-08 — 2001-05-28

Known for

Acting

Credits

40 titles

Rockets Redglare (May 8, 1949 – May 28, 2001) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian.  As well as his career as an entertainer, he worked as a roadie for a band called The Hassles (with a young Billy Joel), and as a bodyguard and drug supplier to punk rock bassist Sid Vicious and artist-musician Jean Michel Basquiat.

Known for

Oz poster
8.0

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

Oz

1997

Monsters poster
6.9

Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. Similarly to Tales from the Darkside, Monsters shared the same producer, and in some ways succeeded the show. It differed in some respects nonetheless. While Tales sometimes dabbled in stories of science fiction and fantasy, this series was more strictly horror. As the name implies, each episode features a different monster, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats.

Monsters

1988

Big poster
7.2

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big, he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight, but he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups, including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

Big

1988

After Hours poster
7.5

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

After Hours

1985

Mystery Train poster
7.3

In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.

Mystery Train

1989

Desperately Seeking Susan poster
6.1

A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself and into a chaotic adventure of amnesia and self-discovery.

Desperately Seeking Susan

1985

Film credits

2000s · 4 titles

Animal Factory poster
6.3

Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

Animal Factory

2000

Chelsea on the Rocks poster
5.7

Chelsea on the Rocks celebrates the personalities and artistic voices that have emerged from New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel. Once considered an untouchable, impenetrable tower for writers, artists, musicians and mavericks, it has been recently claimed as a boutique hotel venture for a management company that shows disregard for its formidable history. –Cannes Film Festival

Chelsea on the Rocks

2008

Who Killed Nancy? poster
5.0

On October 12th, 1978, New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a young woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper, heroin addict, and girlfriend of Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious.

Who Killed Nancy?

2009

Rockets Redglare! poster
7.7

A portrait of Rockets Redglare, the morbidly obese fixture of New York's underground until his death in 2001. Rockets was the sometimes bodyguard/drug dealer of Sid Vicious and Jean Michel Basquiat, as well as a talented stand-up comic and character actor who left his indelible mark wherever he went. This film chronicles Rockets' last days, hunting for methadone in Puerto Rico and telling stories from his past.

Rockets Redglare!

2003

1990s · 13 titles

Basquiat poster
6.6

The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.

Basquiat

1996

Trees Lounge poster
6.9

Tommy has lost his job, his love and his life. He lives in a small apartment above the Trees Lounge, a bar which he frequents along with a few other regulars without lives. He gets a job driving an ice cream truck and ends up getting involved with the seventeen-year-old niece of his ex-girlfriend. This gets him into serious trouble with her father.

Trees Lounge

1996

In the Soup poster
6.7

An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.

In the Soup

1992

Fall poster
6.2

For Michael Shiver, life as an easy-going cab driver in New York suddenly changes when he picks up supermodel Sarah Easton and falls head over heels in love. But Sarah has more than just passion on her mind; she also has a husband and a glamorous lifestyle that she can't seem to leave behind. Torn between her feelings for Michael and the security of her marriage, Sarah is forced to make a realistic decision about the sacrifices that must be made to be truly and totally in love.

Fall

1997

Louis & Frank poster
4.5

Third-rate doo-wop singers making a comeback hook up with a campy manager who books them to perform in drag.

Louis & Frank

1998

In the Spirit poster
4.5

After her husband loses his job, Marianne moves from Beverly Hills to a nightmare New York City. She hires ditzy psychic Reva to redecorate her apartment, and they end up being chased by a crazed killer.

In the Spirit

1990

The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man poster
8.0

This is a dark story of a caring movie maker who struggles to make it and also struggles with his demons and obsessions.

The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man

1999

Sons poster
5.2

A trio of stepbrothers accompany their paralysed father on a jaunt to Normandy where the old boy saw combat and romantic action during the war.

Sons

1990

Force of Circumstance poster
9.0

A courier who represents Moroccan dissidents arrives in Washington with secret documents.

Force of Circumstance

1990

Dreamland poster
9.0

Small-town gangsters and ambitious young girls meet in "Dreamland", where they exchange nervous kisses and green banknotes.

Dreamland

1997

Little Noises poster
5.9

A struggling writer steals poems written by his mute friend to achieve fame and fortune.

Little Noises

1992

What About Me poster
4.7

After a family tragedy, a young woman finds herself homeless and living on the streets of New York.

What About Me

1993

No artwork available
NR

A slice of downtown New York City life (filmed partially on location at Katz' Deli).

Craps

1991

1980s · 21 titles

Big poster
7.2

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big, he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight, but he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups, including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

Big

1988

After Hours poster
7.5

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

After Hours

1985

Mystery Train poster
7.3

In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.

Mystery Train

1989

Desperately Seeking Susan poster
6.1

A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself and into a chaotic adventure of amnesia and self-discovery.

Desperately Seeking Susan

1985

Shakedown poster
5.8

When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.

Shakedown

1988

Down by Law poster
7.4

A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.

Down by Law

1986

Talk Radio poster
7.1

A rude, contemptuous talk show host becomes overwhelmed by the hatred that surrounds his program just before it goes national.

Talk Radio

1988

Stranger Than Paradise poster
7.2

New York layabout Willie forms an unexpected bond with his young Hungarian cousin Eva when she pays him a surprise visit. Later, Eva moves in with their aunt in Cleveland, and Willie takes his best friend Eddie to see her—a visit that culminates in a strange, eventful trip to Florida.

Stranger Than Paradise

1984

Cookie poster
5.6

Cookie Voltecki is the illegitimate daughter of mobster Dino Capisco, who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Since being released from jail, all that Dino wants is to settle some old scores, and make up for lost time with his daughter.

Cookie

1989

Stars & Bars poster
4.4

A British art expert leaves New York to buy a long-lost Renoir from a Georgia eccentric.

Stars & Bars

1988

Salvation! poster
6.6

A troubled young woman hooks up with a money-crazed televangelist and becomes a rich, heavy-metal Christian rock star.

Salvation!

1987

Candy Mountain poster
5.9

A mediocre musician goes on the road in search of the world's greatest guitar maker.

Candy Mountain

1988

Rooftops poster
4.8

T, as most of his friends, lives in a self-constructed 'house', built on top of an old building in the city. Their one passion is 'combat'. Combat is a dance/streetfight during which the contestants try to push each other out of the arena, while not allowed to actually touch each other. When drugdealers move into the neighbourhood and kill T's best friend he embarks on a mission to eradicate the drug-presence in the neigbourhood. His friends are reluctant to help though, knowing what happened to T's friend when he crossed them.

Rooftops

1989

Hotshot poster
4.4

The story of an American soccer player trying to make it big who turns to Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time, for guidance.

Hotshot

1987

The Way It Is poster
8.0

A group of actors in the East Village of New York City have been rehearsing for a play when the lead actress in the play turns up dead.

The Way It Is

1986

The Perils of P.K poster
9.5

P.K., a former movie star now reduced to working as a stripper in a Las Vegas nightclub, is desperate for a comeback, and thinks she could make one if she could only get a big-name star to appear in a movie with her. She relates all these problems, and many of her fantasies, to her psychiatrist, and also approaches several entertainers working in Las Vegas to try to get them to help make her dream come true.

The Perils of P.K

1986

She Must Be Seeing Things poster
5.5

Agatha is an international lawyer, Jo a filmmaker. The two women are lovers. While Jo is on the road showing her films, Agatha discovers and reads her diaries. Problems ensue as Agatha's transgressions lead to jealousy and a spiraling cycle of sexual obsession.

She Must Be Seeing Things

1988

Where Evil Dwells poster
5.6

Loosely based on an infamous 1984 Long Island murder case involving Satan-worshiping, teenage drug freaks (Knights of the Black Circle), David Wojnarowicz and Tommy Turner’s Where Evil Dwells is a low-budget D.I.Y. movie that walks the jagged lines between splatter flick, experimental film and transgressive art. The original footage was destroyed in a fire and the only footage that survived is this 28 minute preview that was put together for the Downtown New York Film Festival in 1985.

Where Evil Dwells

1985

Her Name is Lisa poster
3.3

A Vermont farmer searches New York City for his dream girl, with his gay neighbor as his guide.

Her Name is Lisa

1987

Police State poster
5.4

In Nick Zedd's mock docu-drama Police State, he puts his own body on the line to illustrate his belief that “freedom is an illusion.” A black comedy-satire / protest film featuring Rockets Redglare.

Police State

1987

No artwork available
NR

A Super-8 movie based on the case of grandmother murderess Velma Barfield who was executed for murdering her husband. It was described by Tessa Hughes-Freeland in "The Underground Film Bulletin #4" as "A murderess's last testament, explicating her view of the world, of her crime, and of her punishment. Intimate, compelling and ultimately disturbing".

Last Rights

1985

Series credits