Police Academy Is 38 Years Old, And The Cast Is Much Different Today

When put-upon minion Mahoney comes across “Mr. Wig,” he can’t find anywhere to park his car. The man with the wig doesn’t take it very well, and hilarity ensues. Don Lake took the part of the man in the wig, who doesn’t appreciate Mahoney’s solution to his parking problem: the car ends up wedged in between two others.

Canadian Lake went on to bigger and, at least from his point of view, better things: he didn’t have to wear a wig again that we’re aware of! He forged a long-lasting working relationship with comedian and talk show maven Bonnie Hunt. The pair worked on several hit movies, not least Disney hit Zootopia, in which Lake gave voice to Stu Hopps.

It’s fair to say that Chief Hurnst is old school. Probably his best-known scene in the movie comes when he laments the lack of “Johnsons” among the recruits when the academy removes barriers to training as a cop. George R. Robertson’s hilarious as the police chief who resists change with all his might.

While Police Academy might be his biggest hit, Robertson had one of “those faces.” He cropped up all the time on TV and was in plenty of movies as well. And when you weren’t seeing him, you were hearing him, with his music featuring in several successful films. He was last seen in TV movie Cradle to Grave.

Canadian Doug Lennox doesn’t score a character name in Police Academy. But he still has a decent-sized part, since he’s the leading villain. The leather-jacketed Lennox menaces the recruits, has a convincing sneer, kidnaps Mahoney and Harris, and even attempts to shoot Hightower – before Hooks hilariously saves the day.

While Lennox didn’t always play the villain, he could certainly be scary when he wanted to. So scary, in fact, that when he played a villain in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, viewers claimed that he frightened youngsters, so his part ending up on the cutting-room floor. Sadly, Lennox is no longer with us, having passed away in 2015.

Now, you may have seen the name Georgina Spelvin before. That’s because it’s commonly deployed by female performers who don’t want their real names known. And Shelley Bob Graham sought privacy, perhaps wisely, given that she’d made her name in adult movies. She played a prostitute in Police Academy.

Spelvin was quite the hit in her earlier career, particularly in the renowned The Devil in Miss Jones. In fact, she can be seen in 70 blue movies, though she quit the business in the early 1980s, some years before Police Academy. In later life, she chose more sedate work in graphic design and desktop publishing.

The much-loved, squeaky-voiced Laverne Hooks belies her small stature ifwhen people test her limits. In one of the movie’s most hilarious moments, viewers are stunned by Hooks, played by Marion Ramsey, when she whips out her gun and aims it at a villain. At the same time, she yells her catchphrase: “Don’t move, dirtbag!”

Before Police Academy, Ramsey was already a familiar figure on stage, having been a Broadway success in hits such as Eubie!. She became so renowned, in fact, that she was the inspiration for one of the central parts in the acclaimed musical Dreamgirls. A fine epitaph for a lady who sadly passed in January 2021.

Blankes and his pal Copeland are loyal servants of Lieutenant Harris. Always on the lookout for good reasons to have Mahoney and buddies thrown out of the academy, Brant von Hoffman’s character’s usually on the wrong end of pranks. And punches – Copeland and Blankes are hilariously KO’d by Hooks in a fearsome double blow.

Von Hoffman didn’t taste a great amount of success as an actor outside of Police Academy. But one thing he did claim to excel at was being manly. He and brother Todd co-wrote The Von Hoffmann Bros.’ Big Book of Sheer Manliness in 1997 with Colby Allertion. The book was stuffed with traditional examples of masculinity, ranging from fishing to cards, sports to John Wayne.

Blankes’ partner in trying to mess with the recruits is Chad Copeland, played by Scott Thomson. And Thomson must’ve ended the movie a little battered and bruised, with his character so often on the end of brutal pranks, including ending upside down in a car and being laid out by a meal tray.

You could say that Thomson’s career peaked with Police Academy, but it certainly didn’t end there. He worked regularly in the years after the hit comedy, popping up in character parts through four decades. His most recent appearance of note was in 2015’s Greater, which featured another Academy alum in Leslie Easterbrook.

One of the better-known faces in Police Academy was Ted Ross, who played Captain Reed. He’d scored a Tony in 1975 for his turn as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz, and he popped up in the role again in the 1978 movie adaptation. He also drove Dudley Moore’s Arthur around in the film of the same name.

In fact, The Wiz was far from Ross’ only appearance on Broadway. He turned up in many productions both before and after his stint as Captain Reed. You’d also remember him from his numerous other spots on big and small screens alike. Sadly, though, he passed in 2002.

Chaos personified, Doug Fackler brings insult and injury to everyone unlucky enough to encounter him. When he throws away some fruit in the film, it kick-starts a series of events that ends in a full-scale riot. Bruce Mahler stars as the hapless Fackler, and he has us in stitches with the calamities he causes.

Mahler returned in the role of Fackler a few times and was also seen in several episodes of TV hit Seinfeld. But production was his bigger love, and he gave acting up to focus on it exclusively in the early 2000s. He also took a break from acting to look after his family, both human and animal – he bred terriers for a time.

Accomplished sitcom star Debralee Scott was perfect for Fackler’s wife. In the first film, she made a splash – almost literally – when she tried to prevent Fackler from driving to the academy by leaping on his vehicle. Audiences loved it as she yelled, “You move this car another inch, and you’re finished, mister. You hear me?” To no avail, though.

But Mrs. Fackler eventually decides that if you can’t beat ’em, you should join ’em. So in the series’ third film, she too signs up as a cadet. Sadly, Scott herself had fewer laughs in life. Her fiancé, a real-life cop, lost his life in the 9/11 attack on New York. She never really got over that tragedy, turning to alcohol, and died young in 2005.

With the ability to make 10,000 different sounds, Michael Winslow astonished viewers in the role of Larvell Jones. But he nearly didn’t appear in Police Academy at all. That’s right, there was no part for him in the early drafts of the screenplay. It was only when producers caught his stage act that they decided to sign him up.

And being included turned out to be a lucky break for Winslow, to say the least. He ended up playing the part of Larvell Jones in all the movies in the franchise and the TV show that followed. You may also have seen him in Spaceballs. In that film, Jones reportedly saved Mel Brooks a heap of money by creating his own sound effects.

It’s pretty clear why Leslie Easterbrook’s in the film: she’s a knockout. As tutor Sergeant Callahan, she proves a huge favorite with the male recruits. She’s never short of a volunteer when it comes to demonstrating physical activities. But she can handle it – Callahan’s as tough as they come.

Easterbrook wasn’t just acting when she showed she could handle herself in the film, either. She was reportedly a dab hand with a gun in real life as well. Despite her character’s hard edge, though, she was a softy, calling the cast a “big family.” After Police Academy, she performed the National Anthem at the SuperBowl. And did it so well that she ended up scoring parts in stage musicals.

Another firearm devotee is Tackleberry. David Graf’s character likes to wield the largest pistol possible. And that’s typically a .44 Magnum. The guns aren’t just for show, mind you. He’s always on the lookout for opportunities to pop a shot off, which brings about some amusing moments throughout the film series.

Audience favorite Graf would go on to have a successful career after Police Academy, though it’s probably his best-known work. Well, on the screen, at least – he was also a renowned advocate in his role as a Screen Actors Guild rep. Sadly, Graf was struck down by a cardiac arrest in 2001 when only 50.

When we meet George Martin, he seems the stereotypical Latin pin-up. Women fall at his feet, lured by his smoldering good looks and accent. But far from a “Mar-teen,” in truth he’s no more Hispanic than the actor who plays him, Andrew Rubin. Still, even when the truth’s revealed, he gets the girls, pairing up with Callahan.

Rubin was a hugely successful television actor from the 1970s through to the 1990s, but he had a greater passion. He loved philanthropy, and that would see him quit acting for more than a decade so that he could head up various non-profit organizations. He passed in the fall of 2015.

There was something fishy about George Gaynes’ character. Yes, he was often portrayed alongside with his cherished goldfish. And there’s something equally fishy about the man himself: Commandant Lassard. His attention to what’s going on is, shall we say, sketchy. And he gives the impression that, all in all, he’d rather be golfing.

For his part, Gaynes wasn’t your average American actor. For starters, he’d been born in Finland as George Jongejans, and as a young man he’d fought for the Netherlands during the Second World War. When he came to the U.S., he took up acting on stage and screen. In film, Police Academy and the Dustin Hoffman vehicle Tootsie made him famous, But he’s possibly even better known as Henry in hit TV sitcom Punky Brewster. An intriguing and interesting life came to a close in 2016, when Gaynes was 98.

When Leslie Barbara begins Police Academy by taking a dunk in the river, pushed in by bullies, things don’t look promising for Donovan Scott’s character. But during the film, Barbara gains in confidence and ends up able to fight back against the people who try to push him around. He can’t do anything about having two female names, though.

Being a roly-poly figure might seem to be a bar to being a Hollywood star, but it did Scott some favors. In particular, as he got older, he was perfect for the role of Santa, turning up in several films as Mr. Claus. And he also had a part in Back to the Future Part III.

Hightower is a fitting name for Bubba Smith, who stood at 6 feet 7 inches. Familiar before he appeared in Police Academy after a stellar career as a footballer, he proved a talented actor, too. Despite being huge, Hightower lacks confidence, particularly when it comes to driving. But you wouldn’t believe it if you saw him menace a villain with his size.

Smith appeared in all but the last Police Academy movie, reportedly because his good friend Marion Ramsey wasn’t given a part in the finale. There was always a role for someone with Smith’s comic touch and stature, but the latter may have brought about his demise. He passed away in 2011, having apparently overdosed on a diet drug.

Lieutenant Harris isn’t fond of the recruits. Not at all. He thinks they’re the “worst people” in the city, and he makes it his mission to “make you sorry that you ever came here.” What a nightmare! G.W. Bailey plays this unpleasant officer with relish, and we regularly get to see him receive his comeuppance when he’s on the end of Mahoney and crew’s mischief.

Bailey went on to star as Louie Provenza in Major Crimes and The Closer for more than a decade. But his heart was always with helping children through the cancer foundation Sunshine Kids. “We all do what we do, and we’re all different,” he told Sarasota-based website YourObserver in 2018. “But it’s about supporting something.”

Already big enough to take second billing, Kim Cattrall wowed Police Academy audiences as socialite Karen Thompson. But they only got to see her once – she wouldn’t return for the sequels. Which was something of a pity, because she acted as Hooks’ interpreter. Though Thompson explained that she joined up because “I like to dress as a man,” she impressed Mahoney as a woman and became his girlfriend.

Cattrall’s career went from strength to strength after Police Academy. She featured in other hit films of the 1980s, including Mannequin and Big Trouble in Little China. But it was in the 1990s that she really struck gold. That’s when she played the part of man-magnet Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, a role that scored her a Golden Globe and five Emmy nominations.

Carey Mahoney’s the main man of the movie, and perhaps Steve Guttenberg’s biggest role, but he almost didn’t get the part. Michael Keaton was penciled in for it, but he said no. Maybe you don’t see Keaton as a comic actor, but back in the 1980s that was his forte. Still, Guttenberg was note perfect as wisecracking, woman-crazy Mahoney.

Guttenberg’s career dwindled somewhat after the 1980s, when he was at his peak. He had some weightier roles in movies such as Diner and Cocoon, which were well received, but his star waned. He never really disappeared, though, staying in work until the present day, largely on TV.