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Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:22 am
by powrslave
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/quaid-wife-se ... rest/49438

VANCOUVER - Actor Randy Quaid and his wife told Canada's immigration board Friday they are seeking refuge in Canada because they are being persecuted in the United States, after they were arrested on U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges. The pair were arrested on Thursday afternoon in a shopping area of an affluent Vancouver neighborhood.

The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, where they missed a court hearing Monday on felony vandalism charges.

Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter said Friday that Quaid and his wife Evi's bail increased to $500,000 apiece.

Their attorney, Robert Sanger, said he hoped the situation could be resolved but declined comment citing the pending case.

Evi Quaid begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator not to force them to return, saying on Friday that eight friends, such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, have been "murdered" under mysterious circumstances and she's worried something will happen to her husband next.

"We feel our lives are in danger," she said.

Evi Quaid said she's been told by a jail nurse that her blood pressure is dangerously high due to stress and that Randy Quaid's mother has been hospitalized in the U.S. as a result of the stress from their legal troubles.

Friday's hearing was a mandatory detention review and authorities have asked that they be kept in jail until their next hearing date Tuesday.

On Friday, the Quaids promised they would appear for their next hearing. Evi Quaid said she'd be willing to wear an ankle bracelet while staying at a posh Vancouver hotel.

Randy Quaid said they came to Canada because he was being given an award by a film critics group. He said the couple was considering moving to Vancouver where Randy planned to jump-start his career.

He said the pair believed the warrants were issued by mistake and had been withdrawn and the couple didn't travel north in an effort to skip out on them.

"I love Canada," Randy Quaid told the adjudicator.

"It's been a very welcoming nation to me. I would not do anything to besmirch my reputation."

They face no charges in Canada.

A U.S. judge issued arrest warrants Monday for the couple after they failed to show up at a California court hearing stemming from their arrests last month on suspicion of illegally squatting at a home.

Quaid and his wife face felony vandalism charges after more than $5,000 in damage was found in a guest house of a Montecito, California home they had previously owned.

The Quaids frequently missed court appearances in an earlier U.S. case involving charges they defrauded an innkeeper. That case was resolved in April with Evi Quaid pleading no contest to a misdemeanor. The charges against her husband were dropped.

Randy Quaid, 60, is best-known for supporting roles in films such as "Independence Day" and "National Lampoon's Vacation." He is the older brother of Dennis Quaid.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:47 am
by Stephen Morgan
It's not unheard of for people from one Western nation to seek political asylum in another. Kemal Christian Kemal was the first Frenchman to gain asylum in the USA, back in the 90s I believe. Claimed his wife and the French authorities wanted to pimp his daughter to a Satanist cult. American judge, California I believe, believed him. Then one day a federal marshall grabbed his daughter and shoved her on a plane back to France.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:21 am
by Fresno_Layshaft
They seem to be having some strange paranoid breakdown. I hope it doesn't end in a Duncan/Blake-type situation.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:08 pm
by sunny
\<] Very odd. Any indication of why the Quaid's think their friends are being murdered?


Fresno_Layshaft wrote:They seem to be having some strange paranoid breakdown. I hope it doesn't end in a Duncan/Blake-type situation.


This is true, and I agree.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:16 pm
by justdrew
Stephen Morgan wrote:It's not unheard of for people from one Western nation to seek political asylum in another. Kemal Christian Kemal was the first Frenchman to gain asylum in the USA, back in the 90s I believe. Claimed his wife and the French authorities wanted to pimp his daughter to a Satanist cult. American judge, California I believe, believed him. Then one day a federal marshall grabbed his daughter and shoved her on a plane back to France.


hey, found your blog based on searching for "Kemal Christian Kemal" a search string that currently turns up no other hits. Where do you source that story from?




Evi Quaid begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator not to force them to return, saying on Friday that eight friends, such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, have been "murdered" under mysterious circumstances and she's worried something will happen to her husband next.


who might the other six be?

I'd rather assume they have a valid claim for the time being. Seems like the right thing to do, to believe them. At least for now, who know what might come out.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:52 pm
by Jeff

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:44 pm
by 82_28
Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?

Wow. He has lost it. If people are after him, why the fuck would he think they couldn't get to him in Canada? The life and career of Randy Quaid will most certainly be a case study in 3,2,1.


Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 12:08 pm
by elfismiles
sunny wrote:\<] Very odd. Any indication of why the Quaid's think their friends are being murdered?


Fresno_Layshaft wrote:They seem to be having some strange paranoid breakdown. I hope it doesn't end in a Duncan/Blake-type situation.


This is true, and I agree.


Sadly, I too thought the exact same thing.

At about the 4:23 mark in this vid Evi says:

"Any questions?" - Evi

"What do you mean by 'Star Whackers'" - newsperson

"'Star Whackers' is because, Hollywood is murdering its movie stars for ad-sales. " - Evi



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paPn9IGcARI

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 12:42 pm
by sunny
Maybe, but how do the Quaids figure they will be safe in Canada if the 'Star Whackers' want Randy dead on account of ad-sales? I reckon if he's murdered in another country 'they' would still reap the media-blitz benefits. Wasn't Carradine in Thailand when he died?

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 12:59 pm
by 82_28
sunny wrote:Maybe, but how do the Quaids figure they will be safe in Canada if the 'Star Whackers' want Randy dead on account of ad-sales? I reckon if he's murdered in another country 'they' would still reap the media-blitz benefits. Wasn't Carradine in Thailand when he died?


And don't stars and celebrities routinely get death threats and stuff as it is? Since it's Sunday, I'll bring in a little football. But I can remember all kinds of kickers down through the ages who miss field goals and then some story comes out about the death threats they've been getting after the miss.

When I think of Randy Quaid I first think of Uncle/Cousin Eddie and then I think of this which happened in Seattle a few years back:

Randy Quaid's Seattle fiasco costs him future stage roles

What "Lone Star Love" audiences saw in September at the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre was not particularly pleasant. Now it seems that what was going on backstage was downright nasty.

The bloated $6.5 million musical had originally been scheduled for a run on Broadway after closing in Seattle. Yet the 5th Avenue show was so disappointing, critically and financially, that the producers canceled the transfer to New York.

One of "Lone Star's" biggest problems was its 6-foot-5-inch star, Randy Quaid.

According to reports on an Actors Equity Association inquiry that looked into charges against Quaid, he was rude, abusive and unprofessional. Twenty-six of his fellow cast members brought charges against him. The result, according to Reuters and the New York Post, is that Quaid has been banned for life from Equity and fined $81,572.

Equity is the professional stage actors union.

New York Post columnist Michael Riedel wrote last week that sources privy to the Equity hearing reported that Quaid was charged with five major infractions:

1. During performances, he smacked a fellow actor on the back of the head.

2. Quaid warned another actor that if he made direct eye contact with the star, he would lose his job.

3. Quaid's "sexually inappropriate" comments included referring to an actress' "gynecological instruments."

4. Along with his wife, Evi, Quaid tried to rewrite the script and eliminate characters.

5. Quaid missed rehearsals. On stage, he improvised lines, song lyrics and movements.

Quaid is best known as a film and TV actor. His movies include "Brokeback Mountain" and "Independence Day." He played the young Lyndon Johnson in "LBJ," a 1987 TV docudrama, and he had recurring roles on "Saturday Night Live." He is the older brother of actor Dennis Quaid.

"Lone Star" was to be Randy's Broadway debut. He was recruited to play Col. John Falstaff in "Lone Star" on the theory that a new Broadway musical needs a famous name above the title in advertisements to draw audiences.

"Lone Star Love" is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's 1597 romantic farce " The Merry Wives of Windsor." A key "Merry Wives" character is Sir John Falstaff, an all-round lecher and con man who hits on married matrons in the hope of getting money out of them. All his elaborate scheme get him is a dousing in a creek and a drubbing by an angry husband.

In "Lone Star," Sir John became Col. Falstaff, a Confederate army deserter. Quaid played the role with a large wad of something or other stuffed into the crotch of his tight pants. His portrayal was not subtle.

In response to the five-member Equity hearing board's decision, Quaid reportedly said, "I am guilty of only one thing: giving a performance that elicited a response so deeply felt by the actors and producers with little experience of my creative process that they actually think I am Falstaff."

Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff comes away from his distinctly unmerry "Merry Wives" adventures with a bad cold and a wounded ego. As for Quaid, being banned for life from Equity means that he can no longer perform in first-class theaters with professional stage actors.

His film and TV career, however, should not be affected except insofar as he gets a reputation for being difficult to work with (film and TV actors are not necessarily members of Actors Equity).

Quaid's fine of $81,572, were it to be actually paid, would be divided up among the 26 cast members who lodged the complaint against him. A prominent member of the "Lone Star" cast was Dee Hoty, who returns to the 5th Avenue this week in the title role of the musical comedy "Mame."


http://www.seattlepi.com/theater/350807_theater11.html

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:15 pm
by justdrew
ok, now that throws a different light on things. So now I'd guess they're just trying to doge the warrants. and in a rather floridly weird way. Sounds like they're mostly broke and super stressed and no longer thinking rationally (although that state of affairs may go back a few years).

and if that's his acting method, gawd help his cast mates if he ever plays a murderer.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:40 pm
by Twyla LaSarc
sunny wrote:Maybe, but how do the Quaids figure they will be safe in Canada if the 'Star Whackers' want Randy dead on account of ad-sales? I reckon if he's murdered in another country 'they' would still reap the media-blitz benefits. Wasn't Carradine in Thailand when he died?


And what possible reason would anybody want either of those two dead? Neither were visible activists and Ledger arguably had his best work yet before him. No sense killing the golden goose, etc. And who are the other six and what are their connection? Quaid is not a danger to the state due to his relentess political campaigning, nor does he seem to be a big enough star to threaten anyone.

I'm sorry, Randy and Evi sound unhinged; frankly, Randy doesn't have enough quality cinematic chops to profit from his death in retrospective. My husband (an actor) was shocked by the charges and his expulsion from Equity. For one it is nearly un-heard of to have those kind of formal complaints from other actors, for another, actors like my husband are always trying to hurdle the barriers to joining Equity and getting that work. You don't blow it by being an unprofessional jerk-off.

There's lots of people, once famous (<cough> Shannon Doherty), who are unable to get work because they are jerks. Perhaps they feel like the world's out to get them and it a grand conspiracy to silence them. But bottom line, they are difficult to work with and their instability messes up the rest of the cast. Too bad, Randy, but I doubt there is any reason to kill you and if there were, Canada is no haven. Maybe Johnny Depp will let you squat on his private island.

PS: For a recent movie my husband did, he had to slap his henchman upside the back of the head Moe/Curly-style several times. It was timed and rehearsed to reduce the blow to the henchman's head as much as possible. If this slap of Quaid's was being done in performance and being formally complained about, you can bet that it was harder and more enthusiastic ( and possibly more unrehearsed) than it should have been.

PPS: The hubby is classically trained, NOT a method actor. He avers that anyone who cannot break character within a few minutes of completing a scene shouldn't be an actor because they are too unstable...

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:16 pm
by matrixdutch
Twyla LaSarc wrote:
I'm sorry, Randy and Evi sound unhinged; frankly, Randy doesn't have enough quality cinematic chops to profit from his death in retrospective.


Nonsense! This is one of the finest scenes ever captured on the silver screen:


Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:42 pm
by justdrew
then again, the keyword they used might be "ad sales" - what if many/most of the celebrity gossip sites like TMZ are owned in whole or in part by a group of folks willing to do whatever it takes to generate new "content" (or the whole ownership group wouldn't need to know at all, just a few key figures who need a revenue boost could be the killer) - internet ad revenue is based on traffic, and how much more traffic does a "celebrity mystery death" with surrounding elements generate? Such stories are likely to draw a lot more traffic than the normal fare they push. Just how much revenue for a group of gossip sites did Carradine's death generate? Possibly a very substantial amount.

Granted it's completely a Max Headroom plot, but it's not that hard to believe it's possible. (and there's been rumors of a Max Headroom reboot). Canada's going to be pissed when Quaid comes out and says it was all just laying groundwork/viral marketing strategy like whatshisname's recent shenanigans.

Re: Actor Randy Quaid and his wife seeking refuge in Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:25 pm
by Jeff
Ex-P.I. warns of Quaid’s wife

By BOB MACKIN
Last Updated: October 24, 2010 7:43pm

VANCOUVER -- A private investigator said the conspiracy theory Evi Quaid hopes will allow her and actor husband Randy to claim refugee status in Canada is fictitious.

“Evi believes the ‘union mob’ is out to destroy them, and that they're going to kill Randy and herself and make it look like a murder-suicide,” said Becky Altringer by phone from La Verne, Calif.

“There is nobody out to kill Randy or Evi. The only one trying to hurt Randy and Evi is Evi, she is really mentally ill.”

Altringer was hired by the Quaids last year to investigate the alleged conspiracy, but ended up quitting and filing a restraining order against the couple, who ran up a $19,000 bill. She said she gave them a place to stay but eventually evicted them over Evi’s behaviour.

“Randy packed up his briefcase and said, ‘I've had enough Evi, I'm leaving, I can't do this anymore’ and started walking away,” Altringer said. “She started screaming at him ‘get back here right now!’ He came back.”

...

Altringer said the Quaids are estranged from their families because they’re “terrified of Evi,” who she witnessed using the prescription painkiller Demerol and hyperactivity drug Ritalin. She ultimately fears Evi will kill Randy and then commit suicide.

“Randy, he's going along with all this I think out of fear, he doesn't know what to do,” Altringer said. “I would say that Randy Quaid is being abused by her.”

...


http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment ... 13391.html