Ted Raimi was born on 14 December 1965. So he’s 60 years old today. Little brother is all grown up!
I have a soft spot for the man for a reason that has nothing to do with his work. His older brother Sam has bragged about mistreating him during the making of early films. And I know about this. It is typical of “man culture.” And it’s nonsense. I hope Sam eventually grew up. But even if he didn’t, I’m used to admiring films made by awful people.
But back to Ted.
Most of my friends love Ted Raimi. But they also think he is a bad actor. He’s not. He’s a fine actor. But he has no sense of shame. He’ll do anything. And if you are a psychotronic fan, you have to love that.
And don’t be surprised if over the next ten years or so, he gets a “serious” role that garners him an Academy Award nomination. Think Peter Fonda in Ulee’s Gold. If you watch Raimi in things like The Midnight Meat Train and the TV series SeaQuest DSV you see a bit of what he can do in serious roles. Even early in his career, he was great in Skinner.
So I don’t want to hear anymore about Ted Raiming being a weak actor!
Having said that, I most love him in his over-the-top comedic roles. One of my favorite films (With no caveats!) is Man with the Screaming Brain. And Ted is the best thing in it. Yes! Even better than Bruce Campbell’s milk scene!
But to celebrate Ted Raimi’s big six-oh, let’s watch My Name Is Bruce. In it, he plays three characters. First, he’s Mills Toddner, Bruce’s incompetent and unethical agent. He also plays Ted the Sign Painter, an offensive Italian stereotype. And finally, he plays Wing, an offensive Chinese stereotype. But somehow the offensive stereotypes aren’t because he brings a lot of humanity to them.
Ted Raimi by GabboT under CC BY-SA 2.0.