Peter Van Norden, who starred in the Police Academy and Naked Gun movies, as well as the Jodie Foster drama The Accused and the Stephen King TV miniseries The Stand, has died.
Van Norden’s wife, Wendy, told TMZ that her husband died in a Southern California hospice facility early Thursday. He was 75.
The actor’s son, Robert, also confirmed Van Norden’s death in an Instagram post, writing, “Peter passed away peacefully last night with his wife, Wendy, at his side. He was a terrific father, husband, friend, and a greatly respected member of the theater community. He will be missed.”
Van Norden starred as Officer Vinnie Schtulman opposite Steve Gutenberg in 1985’s Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, the sequel to the 1984 comedy hit. In Leslie Nielsen’s detective spoof The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Van Norden played President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff John Sununu.
The actor proved, however, that he was just as adept at playing drama as he was comedy. He played an attorney, Paulsen, in 1988’s The Accused, which earned Foster her first Best Actress Oscar.
In the first miniseries adaptation of the King’s best-selling novel The Stand, Van Norden starred as Ralph Brentner, who along with Stu Redman (Gary Sinise), Larry Underwood (Adam Storke) and Glen Bateman (Ray Walston) travel West to confront Randall Flagg (Jamey Sheridan), an authoritarian leader who builds a following after a weaponized strain of the influenza decimates the U.S.
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Peter Van Norden Appeared In More Than 70 Screen Projects
Born Peter Edward Van Norden on Dec. 16, 1960, in New York City, Van Norden was a veteran of both stage and screen.
Van Norden’s screen debut was in a bit role in director Lloyd Kaufman’s sports comedy Squeeze Play, which was produced by Kaufman’s low-budget film compancy Troma Entertainment.
The actor’s other film credits included the Willem Dafoe and Judge Reinhold comedy Roadhouse 66, the Tom Selleck prison drama An Innocent Man and the TV movie Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story.
Also on TV, Van Norden also appeared in numerous guest roles over his career, on such series as Cheers, T.J. Hooker, St. Elsewhere, Benson, Matlock, Silver Spoons, Hardcastle & McCormick, L.A. Law, Wings, Tales from the Crypt, Murder, She Wrote, Nash Bridges, Family Matters, ER and 9-1-1.