The great character actor Richard Edson's first feature film role came in Jim Jarmusch's 1983 cult hit, Extraños en el paraíso (1984), where he played "Eddie", one of the main characters. Edson then had small, but memorable, roles in other big hits such as Buscando a Susan desesperadamente (1985), John Hughes' Todo en un día (1986), Oliver Stone's great Vietnam-movie Platoon (1986), Barry Levinson's Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and, in 1989, Edson starred in Spike Lee's Haz lo que debas (1989). In 1993, he played "Spike", one of the evil King Koopa's henchmen, in Super Mario Bros. (1993) and, in 1995, he had a part in the engaging sci-fi thriller, Días extraños (1995). More recently, he has appeared in the remake of Starsky & Hutch (2004), the dubious horror-flick, Frankenfish: La criatura del pantano (2004) and is currently starring with Tom Arnold in The Kid & I (2005).In addition to his film success, Edson has had a fascinating career in music, being the original drummer in the New York post-punk band, Sonic Youth, and spending three years as drummer for the rhythmic dance band, Konk. (Actually, he was a trumpet player in Konk, not the drummer) It was his involvement in Konk and the New York art scene that caught Jim Jarmusch's eye and led to his being cast in Extraños en el paraíso (1984).Edson currently lives in Los Angeles where, in addition to acting, he is very active in music, writing and photography.
