RIP: Rick Ducommun

Before I came back to the blog on a semi-regular basis, I missed out on writing about some celebrities unfortunate passings including Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I also didn't write about Christopher Lee as I truly am not too familiar with Lee's work, though have researched him and his life and the guy was amazing. If you don't know anything about Christopher Lee, go and read up on him.

The name Rick Ducommun may not ring a bell to some folks, but to me he will always be remembered as Art Weingartner from Joe Dante's The 'Burbs. Rick's performance as the overweight, bumbling neighbor who persuades Tom Hanks' character Ray Petersen into believing that his neighbors might be murderers. His role, mainly as the pratfall sidekick to Tom Hanks' straight man worked well and Rick seemed to have great chemistry with all the cast members of The 'Burbs.

Rick Ducommun made his career out of being a character actor. From brief scenes in Joe Dante's Gremlins 2: The New Batch and John McTiernan's The Hunt for Red October and Last Action Hero, to having substantial parts in other films like Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day and Rupert Wainwright's Blank Check, Rick always brought high energy to his performance, no matter the size of the role.

One last thing, when I was a kid, I loved the film Little Monsters. It took me well into adulthood to realize that Rick Ducommun played the villainous sidekick role of Snik. Under many layers of makeup, it was hard to know who played the role initially, but was a welcome surprise when I realized that Rick Ducommun was responsible for Snik.

Rick Ducommun: 1956-2015