Edward Harry Deezen (born March 6, 1957) is an American actor and
comedian. He played bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s
films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, I Wanna Hold Your
Hand, 1941, and WarGames. He starred in Surf II: The End of the
Trilogy, Mob Boss, Beverly Hills Vamp, and Teenage Exorcist. In
animation, he is recognized for his distinctively high-pitched and
nasal voice, which has been used for Mandark in the Cartoon Network
series Dexter's Laboratory, Snipes the Magpie in Rock-a-Doodle, Ned in
Kim Possible, and the Know-It-All Kid in The Polar Express.Edward
Harry Deezen was born in Cumberland, Maryland, the son of Irma and
Robert Deezen. He was raised Jewish. A class clown in his youth,
Deezen started out with aspirations of becoming a stand-up comedian,
moving out to Hollywood within days of graduating high school in order
to pursue a career. As a comedian, he performed at least three times
at The Comedy Store, though eventually decided to abandon stand-up and
focus on acting after bombing his last act and having difficulty
memorizing his routine. Deezen attempted stand-up one last time,
however, when he appeared on an episode of The Gong Show in the
mid-1970s, only to be gonged by singer-songwriter Paul Williams.Deezen
landed his first and perhaps best known role in the film Grease,
playing nerdy student Eugene Felsnic, a part he won through a standard
audition process. During Grease's post-production period, Deezen won
another small role playing a bully in the low-budget independent
science fiction movie Laserblast. Despite being his second film,
Laserblast marked Deezen's screen debut when it was released in March
1978, three months before the theatrical release of Grease.Following
the massive success of Grease, Deezen found himself being cast in a
string of high-profile comedy films playing similarly nerdy
characters, including Robert Zemeckis' directorial debut I Wanna Hold
Your Hand (1978) and Steven Spielberg's 1979 epic comedy 1941. Deezen
was in such demand by 1979 that he was constantly having to turn down
roles. Two such notable instances were the characters of Eaglebauer in
Rock 'n' Roll High School and Spaz in Meatballs, both of which Deezen
turned down in order to film 1941.
comedian. He played bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s
films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, I Wanna Hold Your
Hand, 1941, and WarGames. He starred in Surf II: The End of the
Trilogy, Mob Boss, Beverly Hills Vamp, and Teenage Exorcist. In
animation, he is recognized for his distinctively high-pitched and
nasal voice, which has been used for Mandark in the Cartoon Network
series Dexter's Laboratory, Snipes the Magpie in Rock-a-Doodle, Ned in
Kim Possible, and the Know-It-All Kid in The Polar Express.Edward
Harry Deezen was born in Cumberland, Maryland, the son of Irma and
Robert Deezen. He was raised Jewish. A class clown in his youth,
Deezen started out with aspirations of becoming a stand-up comedian,
moving out to Hollywood within days of graduating high school in order
to pursue a career. As a comedian, he performed at least three times
at The Comedy Store, though eventually decided to abandon stand-up and
focus on acting after bombing his last act and having difficulty
memorizing his routine. Deezen attempted stand-up one last time,
however, when he appeared on an episode of The Gong Show in the
mid-1970s, only to be gonged by singer-songwriter Paul Williams.Deezen
landed his first and perhaps best known role in the film Grease,
playing nerdy student Eugene Felsnic, a part he won through a standard
audition process. During Grease's post-production period, Deezen won
another small role playing a bully in the low-budget independent
science fiction movie Laserblast. Despite being his second film,
Laserblast marked Deezen's screen debut when it was released in March
1978, three months before the theatrical release of Grease.Following
the massive success of Grease, Deezen found himself being cast in a
string of high-profile comedy films playing similarly nerdy
characters, including Robert Zemeckis' directorial debut I Wanna Hold
Your Hand (1978) and Steven Spielberg's 1979 epic comedy 1941. Deezen
was in such demand by 1979 that he was constantly having to turn down
roles. Two such notable instances were the characters of Eaglebauer in
Rock 'n' Roll High School and Spaz in Meatballs, both of which Deezen
turned down in order to film 1941.
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