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
2004â€"2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the
Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
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
2004â€"2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the
Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
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