Raye Birk

Acting

Raye Birk

Overview

Known for
Acting
Gender
Other
Birthday
May 27, 1943 (82 years old)

Raye Birk

Known For

New Neighbors
0h 9m
Movie 2016

New Neighbors

In the face of the killings and assaults on black...

A Serious Man
1h 46m
Movie 2009

A Serious Man

It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at...

Sweet Land
1h 50m
Movie 2005

Sweet Land

Set in 1920, Inge travels from Germany to rural Minnesota...

Factotum
1h 34m
Movie 2005

Factotum

This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of...

North Country
2h 6m
Movie 2005

North Country

A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment...

Star Trek: Insurrection
1h 42m
Movie 1998

Star Trek: Insurrection

When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to...

After Jimmy
1h 39m
Movie 1996

After Jimmy

This is a story of Jimmy, a high school senior,...

The Big Squeeze
1h 38m
Movie 1996

The Big Squeeze

Benny, a hapless grifter, is thrown off a train after...

My Brother's Keeper
1h 34m
Movie 1995

My Brother's Keeper

A man and his HIV-positive twin take an insurance company...

Cries from the Heart
2h 0m
Movie 1994

Cries from the Heart

Michael, a young autistic boy who has trouble with verbalization...

Biography

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.