Dan Frischman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
Dan Frischman (born April 23, 1959 in Whippany, New Jersey) is an American character actor, noted for his many roles of playing socially inept "geeks" and "nerds". Mr. Frischman's birthdate is often listed as being 1964, as early in his career his acting agent had him practice age fabrication to seem five years younger which made him more eligible for teenaged acting roles.
Contents |
[edit] Early Noted Appearance
He was first noticed in a 17 March 1982 episode of the NBC television series The Facts of Life. In the episode, titled "Kids Can Be Cruel" Frischman played high school student "Carl 'Rocky' Price" who was picked on by his peers because of his acne and nerd like personality. The students in the episode referred to Mr. Frischman's character as "Pizzaface", because of his pronounced acne blemishes and scars. In the episode the character Natalie Green, played by actress Mindy Cohn, gets angry at her roommate Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel) and sets her up with Mr. Frischman's character "Rocky" as a cruel joke.
In 1983 Frischman appeared in the comedy cult film Get Crazy as Joey, a typically nerdy (and virginal) stagehand who ultimately gets the girl.
[edit] Head Of The Class
Frischman's first co-starring role was that of Manhattan based high school student Arvid Engen on ABC-TV's late 1980s/ early 1990s series Head of the Class.
Arvid was a bespectacled geek who was an early connoisseur of computer culture as well as a budding scientist. Arvid and his classmates were considered possible geniuses and were placed in the "I.H.P. Individualized Honors Program" for advanced and gifted students.
[edit] Kenan & Kel
Frischman's second co-starring role was the character of Chris Potter in the 1990s Nickelodeon TV series Kenan & Kel. Kenan & Kel was a spin-off of Nickelodeon's All That, a weekly Saturday night 30-minute comedy. Kenan & Kel starred two of All That's biggest stars, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. The show featured Kenan Rockmore, a high schooler who works at "Rigby's", a small grocery store.
Once again Frischman played a socially awkward nerd, this time as Chris Potter, Kenan's boss at Rigby's. Kenan's friend Kel would often stop in, and the two friends' behavior was usually a source of aggravation to Chris. Though Chris Potter was in his thirties and held a management position, he lived with his dominating mother, an unseen character, who is frequently mentioned throughout the show. One of Chris' anxieties was a recurring dream that he was being chased by a giant bunny.
[edit] Other Appearances
While at the height of his Head of the Class fame, Mr. Frischman appeared as a celebrity guest on different talk shows and variety shows.
- On Saturday December 20, 1986, Mr. Frischman and the cast of Head of the Class were the celebrity guests on the long running urban music series Soul Train. Musical guests that week were Al Jarreau and Vesta Williams.
- On Wednesday July 15, 1987 Frischman appeared as that evenings guest on NBC-TV's highly rated evening talk show Late Night With David Letterman.
- Frischman has made numerous guest star appearances on many U.S. based television series. Some of the more noted series include Archie Bunker's Place, It's a Living, Newhart, St. Elsewhere, Voyagers!, and Webster.
- Frischman made a short, but memorable, appearance on the 1990s series Seinfeld. In episode 93, titled "The Mom & Pop Store" (which originally aired on Thursday November 17, 1994 on U.S. television network NBC), Mr. Frischman plays a man who phones Jerry Seinfeld to tell the comedian that he has found his stolen sneaker collection by reading the address labels Jerry puts on each shoe.
- On Monday October 24, 2005, Frischman was a celebrity panelist on I Love the '80s 3-D, a television program on VH1.
