Eddie Deezen

WarGames marked the final mainstream film of Deezen's live-action acting career as he began working exclusively in independent film for the remainder of the 1980s, starting with his first starring role in the 1984 cult comedy Surf II: The End of the Trilogy, where he played the movie's antagonist, mad scientist Menlo Schwartzer.

That year saw the release of Revenge of the Nerds, the film that is generally credited with making the stock character of the stereotypical "nerd" a mainstay of teen films. Despite having arguably created the nerd archetype in such movies before, Deezen was not cast in the film. He remarked in an interview that he later asked the producers of Revenge of the Nerds why he hadn't been offered a role and was given the response that he was deemed "too geeky", whereas casting was instead just looking to dress "normal people" up as nerds.[3][4] Despite this, Deezen says he is frequently "recognized" by strangers for being in the film.[7]

Deezen worked steadily throughout the remainder of the 1980s and early 1990s, continuing to play nerds in both bit parts and major roles, including the ensemble comedy Million Dollar Mystery, Critters 2: The Main Course, The Whoopee Boys and The Silence of the Hams. He worked several times alongside comedian Tim Conway, most notably appearing in two of his Dorf videos, and struck up a partnership with prolific low-budget filmmaker and producer Fred Olen Ray, who gave Deezen leading roles with the films Beverly Hills Vamp, Mob Boss and Teenage Exorcist.

Following his cameo appearance as a security guard in the 1996 Leslie Nielsen spoof Spy Hard, Deezen wouldn't appear in a live-action film for another 17 years. In a July 2009 interview, Deezen talked about his struggle maintaining an acting career, saying "The truth is, it is extremely tough to sustain a career in Hollywood. It is tough enough ever getting work, just the sheer odds. I loved John [Badham] and Matthew [Broderick] and it would definitely be my pleasure to work with them again. Believe me, if the right role was there and available, I'd be there in a second".[8]

In 2012, Deezen starred in a live-action comedic short film entitled I Love You, Eddie Deezen. The plot revolves around a nerdy woman's cross-country journey to find the man of her dreams: Eddie Deezen. The short was released on November 19, 2012.[9] The following year, Deezen returned to live-action movies in Fred Olen Ray's television film All I Want for Christmas, making a cameo as a supposed A-list action movie star being interviewed on a daytime talk show. In early 2015, Deezen did a cameo in a live-action comedy short film Flight Fright, playing a nervous airline passenger. In late 2016, he starred with Larry (The Soup Nazi) Thomas and Caryn Richman in the short comedy The Love Suckers, which screened at the 2017 New York City International Film Festival.

In the mid-1980s, Deezen transitioned into voice acting, a change of pace he favored due to better pay and not needing to memorize dialogue.[4] He started out lending his voice to animated feature films, including the voice of Donnie Dodo in Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird and Snipes the Magpie in Don Bluth's 1991 film Rock-A-Doodle. According to a 2011 interview, Deezen unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of the title character in Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, losing out to comedian Charles Fleischer.[10] He was also considered for the role of Judge Doom in the film along with several other actors that were considered but lost the role to Christopher Lloyd.[11]

Deezen eventually found full-time voice work on television in the mid-1990s, playing recurring characters on the animated series Grimmy, Duckman, Kim Possible and What's New, Scooby-Doo?, as well as guest spots on many others, including Johnny Bravo, Recess, and Darkwing Duck. His best-known voice-over character, however, is that of Mandark, the nemesis of the eponymous Dexter on Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory, a role he played for the series' entire run from 1996–2003. Deezen also voiced the character on the TV special Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip and the video games Cartoon Network Racing and FusionFall.

In 2004, Deezen returned to the big screen once again under the direction of Robert Zemeckis to supply voice and motion capture performance for the blockbuster holiday film The Polar Express, playing the role of the nerdy "Know-It-All". He reprised this role for the subsequent video game.

Deezen regularly lends his voice to radio and television commercials. In the late 1990s, he provided the voice of Pop (of Snap, Crackle and Pop) in commercials for Rice Krispies cereal,[5] and Nacho, the mascot for Taco Bell's kid's meals commercials, alongside Rob Paulsen as Dog. In 2011, Deezen was under consideration for succeeding Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of The Aflac Duck but did not win the role.[12]

• Interview with Kittenpants.org
• READ Magazine Interview
• Rogue Cinema Interview
• The Radio Dan Show Interview (Audio Interview)
• Revenge of the 80s Radio Interview (Audio Interview)
• I Heart Chaos Interview