Jaws: The Revenge icon Lance Guest has delighted fans recently with a slew of public appearances, 39 years after appearing in the panned sequel.
Guest, now 66, is best known for playing Michael Brody in the fourth and final Jaws film, which was dubbed among the ‘worst movies of all time.’
He also played Jimmy Lloyd in Halloween II and the lead role of an American teenager called Alex Rogan dragged into an interstellar war between space aliens in Nick Castle’s The Last Starfighter.
He has also guest-starred on TV shows including Dallas, St. Elsewhere, Knots Landing, The Wonder Years, The X-Files, JAG, NYPD Blue, Jericho and House.
Guest has enjoyed a longstanding career onstage including an acclaimed Broadway performance as Johnny Cash.
See him now.
Jaws: The Revenge icon Lance Guest has delighted fans recently with a slew of public appearances, 39 years after appearing in the panned sequel (seen R in the film with Mario Van Peebles)
In 1981 Guest (right) featured in Halloween II as Jimmy, a teen hospital orderly who treats Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode (center) for the injuries she sustained in the first film
Guest, who is pictured (left) with Dan O’Herlihy (right) in the 1984 sci-fi picture The Last Starfighter, which has emerged as a cult classic
Born and raised in rural Saratoga, California, Guest performed in school plays in high school and was sufficiently infected by the acting bug to study the craft at UCLA, where he was awarded the Shakespeare award, via his IMDb biography.
‘Rob Reiner as Meathead from All in the Family inspired me to be an actor,’ he recalled in an interview with the blog Indie Mac User.
‘When I was about 11 or 12, I thought: “That guy is so great. And his job is to just rehearse all week for a half hour show and then do it on Friday.”’
He acknowledged: ‘I was probably wrong about the schedule, but that’s the first I remember seriously thinking about becoming a professional. I didn’t grow up in Hollywood or anything, so I didn’t know anybody who did that’
His breakthrough role came in the 1981 picture Halloween II, which saw Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her turn from the first movie as Laurie Strode, the teenage target of her serial killer brother Michael Myers, played by Dick Warlock.
Guest featured as Jimmy, a teen hospital orderly who treats Laurie for the injuries she sustained in the first film and becomes entangled in the horror plot of the second.
He recalled later that Curtis ‘had a great sense of humor, but she was pretty serious about the acting. One time she didn’t like the shoes or something she was wearing and referred to herself as “Nerd Curtis.” I liked her. I kind of had a crush on her.’
In 1984 he played the lead role of an American teenager called Alex Rogan dragged into an interstellar war between space aliens in Nick Castle’s The Last Starfighter.
Born and raised in rural Saratoga, California, Guest performed in school plays in high school and was sufficiently infected by the acting bug to study the craft at UCLA, where he was awarded the Shakespeare award – pictured July
In recent months he has been appearing at conventions to promote The Last Starfighter, joining forces with co-star Catherine Mary Stewart to reflect on the film’s success – pictured 2015
Guest is pictured with Michael Caine and Lorraine Gary in Jaws: The Revenge
With a cast including soap star Catherine Mary Stewart, Oscar nominee Dan O’Herlihy, The Music Man icon Robert Preston, the picture performed only moderately well upon its release but has since earned a dedicated cult following.
Then in 1987, he featured in Jaws: The Revenge, a mega-flop that killed the film series in spite of a cast that included such names as Michael Caine.
The film was led by Lorraine Gary, reprising her longstanding franchise role of Ellen Brody, the wife of the police chief Martin Brody played by Roy Scheider.
By the events of Jaws: The Revenge, Martin is dead but his son Michael is one of the major characters in the action.
His co-stars included Mario Van Peebles and tragic child star Judith Barsi, who went on to play Ducky in Don Bluth’s The Land Before Time before she was killed by her father in a shocking murder-suicide that also claimed the life of her mother.
He played country legend Cash in the play Million Dollar Quartet, about the famous 1956 recording session with Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Guest is seen attending a Broadway opening in 2010
Guest has become a regular on the fan convention circuit – pictured with Leo Rossi at Halloween Con: 40 Years Of Terror in 2018
Guest began playing the role on Broadway when it opened in 2010, and continued in the part after the show shifted to off-Broadway in 2011 owing to flagging ticket sales.
He has also guest-starred on TV shows including Dallas, St. Elsewhere, Knots Landing, The Wonder Years, The X-Files, JAG, NYPD Blue, Jericho and House.
In recent months, he has been appearing at conventions to promote The Last Starfighter, joining forces with co-star Catherine Mary Stewart to reflect on the film’s success.
