There are not so many films from the 80s that have managed to become iconic to the
extent that even new generations, spoiled by Netflix and HBO, find them worthy. The
title of one of such timeless movies duly goes to Police Academy released in 1984.
The plot follows a group of newly recruited
cadets who have zero training but want to serve in police.
The film grossed 81 million dollars worldwide. For the majority of its
cast members, Police Academy became a breakout point in their careers.
Today, 26 years later, some of the actors have become unrecognizable,
some have not made it to our days and some have had really surprising twists in their lives.
Today we take a look at out favorite cast members from Police Academy:
how they have changed and what has been happening in their lives all these years.
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Steve Guttenberg Even though Guttenberg had been gaining large
recognition before the Police Academy, the role of adorable scoundrel Carey Mahoney catapulted him
to Hollywood stardom. Soon he became the busiest star in Hollywood appearing in 9 starring roles.
The hunky actor's biggest financial success came with Three Men and a Baby in 1987.
This was probably the moment when his acting career peaked. None of his following movies
sparked a sensational comeback for the actor. But it doesn't mean he was wasting time though!
In his autobiography, The Guttenberg Bible released in 2012,
he admits to bedding hundreds of women and generally not being a very nice person.
But hopefully those days are history already as Guttenberg has been married to his second wife,
reporter Emily Smith, since 2019.
Now check out this: Bruce Willis auditioned for Mahoney. Among those who were also considered
for the part were Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Bill Murray and Rick Moranis.
Kim Cattrall For Cattrall, who portrayed
cadet Karen Thompson, Police Academy was just the beginning of her super successful career.
The role of her life was yet to come. You have probably guessed we are talking about
HBO's Sex and the City where she starred as the scandalously promiscuous Samantha Jones.
Cattrall has been married three times, with her third marriage having ended in divorce in 2004.
At 64, she looks gorgeous and is still in the limelight,
even though she has not been filming much in the past years.
In 2018, the actress underwent a serious family drama when her younger brother went missing.
She asked for public help in finding him on her Instagram account.
Soon he was found dead having taken his own life aged 55. She later revealed her brother
had been suffering from depression which she had no idea about. Kim still feels guilty and
keeps asking herself over and over again if she could do anything to prevent the tragedy.
"There is a well of sadness in me. I am different now and I will never be the same."
Bubba Smith Before becoming the
soft-spoken Moses Hightower in Police Academy, Bubba Smith used to be a professional football
player AND actually a successful one! So he really had two impressive careers.
But what he failed to have was the family of his own. Smith was never married and had no kids.
It is one of the reasons fans were heartbroken upon learning about the actor's death at the age
of 66. He passed away in 2011 from acute drug intoxication and heart disease. A weight-loss
drug was found in his system and by the time of his death his heart weighed more than twice than
a normal heart of an average human. It was later revealed that Smith had suffered from a chronic
brain disease that affected quite a number of former athletes involved in contact sports.
Michael Winslow
Winslow started appearing in films in 1980 before portraying cadet Jones in Police Academy.
In case you don't know that already (shame on you if you don't), Winslow, just like his character,
has the ACTUAL talent of generating seemingly any sound effect with only his mouth.
It made him one of the most recognized stars of the 80s. Winslow made several
shows based on his unique ability and has been billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects.
In addition to being a successful actor and musician, he is also a business guy
who in 2010 debuted his own apps bringing his sound effects and comedy to a mobile platform.
By the way, his skill also comes in handy on a daily basis.
For example, Winslow says that he can usually make telemarketers hangup almost immediately
by making blaring siren noises down the phone as soon as he picks up.
David Graf A little bit crazy, but still a
very committed cadet Eugene Tackleberry became one of the franchise's most recognizable characters.
It was the actor's breakout role which he reprised in all 6 sequels. You probably
remember Tackleberry playing the saxophone in the Police Academy films. Graf was actually a skilled
sax player in real life. We say he WAS one, which leads us to the sad circumstances of his death.
It happened in 2001, when the actor was just 50 years old. He was attending his brother-in-law's
wedding with his wife and two sons, when his life suddenly interrupted following a heart attack.
Bobcat Goldthwait Goldthwait became
famous as a solo stand-up comedian with two televised concert specials in the 80s.
The legendary leader of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, was a fan of Goldthwait’s comedy.
Goldthwait has written and directed a number of films and television series, most notably
the black comedies. As an actor, however, his first major role was crazy Zed in Police Academy.
Goldthwait proved to be a little bit crazy, or let us call it eccentric, in real life.
He was responsible for several controversial episodes,
like the one which occurred during Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1993,
when he tossed furniture and ran around the set and then into the audience. The next year
he appeared on another late night show where he briefly lit the guest chair on fire. As a result,
Goldthwait was fined and required to tape several public service announcements about fire safety.
Leslie Easterbrook Following Police Academy,
Easterbrook who played a tough sergeant and Tackleberry's crush, Callahan continued
working regularly, racking up dozens of television appearances in the 80s and 90s.
She has remained close friends with her Police Academy co-stars, Scott Thomson
and Marion Ramsey. The actress describes the cast of the original film as a big family.
She has turned 71 this summer and keeps working actively.
George William Bailey Although Bailey showed
brilliant performance in numerous dramatic roles,
he is best remembered for his crusty comedic characters in MASH and Police Academy.
He continued to play Lieutenant Harris in all of the six Police Academy sequels,
but something went sort of wrong with the fourth part. The actor claimed he was drunk
while shooting it and revealed he didn't remember it at all.
"I don't have any idea what it was about."
Bailey married in 1966 and has two children.
However, in 1999 the spouses decided to get divorced - not something you would
expect from two elderly people who have spent 32 years together! But that's life!
Marion Ramsey
Best known for her role as the soft-spoken Officer Laverne Hooks in Police Academy,
the actress had to wear a fat suit for this part. Originally, the plan was for her character
to get thinner as the movies progressed, but the producers later decided not to go through with it.
Ramsey was written out of the final installment of the franchise despite
appearing in all of the previous six movies. When her co-star Bubba Smith learned about it,
he said he wasn't going to join the 1994 project out of solidarity with his colleague. By the way,
it was the lowest-grossing movie in the series, by a wide margin.
Ramsey is not only an actress, but she is also a singer and a songwriter.
And, as we have already mentioned, a good friend with Leslie Easterbrook.
George Gaynes Gaynes, who appeared as Eric Lasard
in Police Academy, was one of the oldest members of the cast. His acting career began around 30
years before the hit film release - the one that, after all, made him recognizable in his late 60s!
And he actually kept working till his mid 80s. Gaynes who was married once and lived
happily with his wife for decades passed away in 2016, at the age of 98 at his daughter's home.
Donovan Scott
Despite having had several notable roles under his belt, Scott was still best known as the
guy from Olivia Newton John's music video for Physical. But that was before the Police Academy,
where he gained wide recognition as Leslie Barbara, the shy cadet who eventually kicks
ass during a riot. After that, the actor mainly specialised in playing Santa Claus.
He has not been really active in the past 3 years,
which is totally understandable minding the fact that the actor is 73 years old.
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