Richard Riehle

Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948) is an American character actor. He has appeared in over four hundred films, television shows and other projects.

Richard Riehle
Riehle in 2016
Born	(1948-05-12) May 12, 1948 (age 77) Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education	University of Notre Dame (BA) University of Minnesota (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1977–present

Life and career

Riehle was born on May 12, 1948, in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Margaret (née Walsh), a nurse, and Herbert John Riehle (1921–1961), an assistant postmaster.^[1] He attended the University of Notre Dame and then went on to complete an MFA at University of Minnesota.^[2] Riehle began acting at the Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan and was doing regional theatre in the Pacific Northwest when he got his very first film role in the John Wayne film Rooster Cogburn.^[2] Riehle has portrayed the role of Santa Claus in eight different projects, including five films, two television shows, and a television movie.

On television, he portrayed Walt Finnerty on Grounded for Life (2001–2005). He has also had multiple appearances across the Star Trek franchise, including the role of Batai in the acclaimed The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light". He also had guest roles in shows like NCIS, The Middle and The West Wing.

In film, Riehle played Tom Smykowski, the self-described "people person" who serves as an intermediary between the engineers and customers at the software company Initech in Office Space. His other roles include the ranch hand Carlson in Of Mice and Men (1992), the guard who allowed Harrison Ford to initially escape custody in The Fugitive (1993), Principal Beasely in the Pauly Shore comedy Jury Duty (1995), Executive Decision (1996), Mercury Rising (1998), Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), and Wedding Crashers (2005).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Joyride	The Bartender
1987	Rachel River	Mervyn "Merv"
1989	Black Rain	Internal Affairs Detective Crown
	Glory	Kendric, The Quartermaster
1991	Shadows and Fog	Roustabout
	Fried Green Tomatoes	Reverend Scroggins
1992	Prelude to a Kiss	Jerry Blier
	The Public Eye	Officer O'Brien
	Of Mice and Men	Carlson
	Hero	Robinson
1993	Body of Evidence	Detective Griffin
	Free Willy	Wade
	The Fugitive	Old Guard
	A Dangerous Woman	John, Drycleaner Owner
1994	Iron Will	Burton
	Lightning Jack	Marcus
	Holy Matrimony	Greeson
1995	Casino	Charlie Clark
	Stuart Saves His Family	Judge
	Jury Duty	Principal Beasley
	Dominion	Larry
	Killer: A Journal of Murder	Warden Quince
	Lone Justice 2	The Mayor
1996	Executive Decision	Air Marshal George Edwards
	Too Fast Too Young	Sergeant
	The Fan	Shopkeeper
	Driven	Leo
	Last Resort	Phil Billingsley
	Ghosts of Mississippi	Tommy Mayfield
1997	Trading Favors	Highway Patrolman
	One Eight Seven	Walter
	Cold Night Into Dawn	Gerald
	One of Our Own	Burt Herchak
	A River Made to Drown In	Heavyset Man
	Dilemma	Captain Ross
1998	Desperate Measures	Warden Ed Fayne
	Mercury Rising	Edgar Halstrom
	The Odd Couple II	The Sheriff
	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Dune Buggy Driver	Cameo
	Lethal Weapon 4	Coast Guard Officer
	The Lesser Evil	Detective Smitts
	Judas Kiss	Security Guard
	Richie Rich's Christmas Wish	Sergeant Mooney
	Mighty Joe Young	Commander Gorman
1999	The Arrangement	Detective Bert Hershak
	Kill the Man	Mr. Ellias
	Office Space	Tom Smykowski
	Blink of an Eye	Main Prison Guard
	Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo	Bob Bigalow
2001	The Fluffer	Sam Martins
	Say It Isn't So	Sheriff Merle Hobbs
	Crash Point Zero [fr]	Alan Douglas
	Joe Dirt	Car Dealer
	Bandits	Lawrence Fife
	The Socratic Method	Professor Myers
	The Gristle	Starnes
2002	Ken Park	"Murph" Murphy
	Time Changer	Dr. Wiseman
2003	The Hebrew Hammer	Santa Claus
	Beethoven's 5th	Vaughn Carter
2004	Death and Texas	Prison Warden
	Home on the Range	Sheriff Sam Brown	Voice
	Palindromes	Dr. Dan
	Mysterious Skin	Charlie
2005	Neo Ned	Officer Pendleton
	The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green	Hat Sister
	Wedding Crashers	Funeral Guest	Uncredited
	The 12 Dogs of Christmas	Mayor Nobel Doyle
2006	The Lost	Bill Richmond
	Intellectual Property	Detective Rees
	Hot Tamale	Sheriff Pinkham
	Hatchet	Jim Permatteo
	The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell	The Narrator, Paranormal Historian
	Down the P.C.H.	Ricky
	National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2	Captain Bunkley
	Little Big Top	Bob
	The Darkroom	Emilio
	Price to Pay	Hooper
	Midnight Clear	Tommy
	Fierce Friend	Phone Tech
	Domestic Import	Sam, The Mailman
2007	Smiley Face	Mr. Spencer
	The Memory Thief	Judaica Store Clerk
	Choose Connor	Grant Miller
	The Man from Earth	Dr. Will Gruber
	Spinning into Butter	Paul Meyers
	My Father	John Parker
	A Plumm Summer	Art Bublin
	Wasting Away	Colonel South
	Resurrection Mary	Detective Mahoney
	Big Stan	Judge
	Desperate Escape	Croaker Norge
2008	The Last Word	Man At Gorge
	Red	Sam Berry
	Hindsight	Peter
	The Temerity of Zim	Mr. Brown	Short film
	Green Flash	Herb
	Your Name Here	Literary Agent Lipschitz
	Audie & the Wolf	Michael Ludlow
	Bait Shop	Gus
	Necessary Evil	Captain Parsons
2009	Stellina Blue	Dr. Helfenstein
	Nowhere to Hide	Toley
	Messengers 2: The Scarecrow	Jude Weatherby
	Project Solitude	Frederick Sterling
	Halloween II	Buddy, The Night Watchman
	Play Dead	Truck Driver
	The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu	Mr. Snodgrass
2010	Growth	Larkin Holberman
	5 Star Day	Jim, The Plumber
	Spork	Clyde
	BoyBand	Principal Collins
	Miss Nobody	Leonard Ormsby
	Screwball: The Ted Whitfield Story	Joe Francia, The Umpire
	1,001 Ways to Enjoy the Missionary Position	Charlie
	The Search for Santa Paws	Santa Claus
	Lights Out	Harold
	Killer by Nature	Warden Upton
	Darnell Dawkins: Mouth Guitar Legend	Hal "Howlin' Hal" Halsby
2011	The Back-up Bride	Sonny Spur
	Bridesmaids	Bill Cozbi
	Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer	The Ringmaster
	Chillerama	Cecil Kaufman	Segment: "Zom-B-Movie"
	A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	Santa Claus
	Black Velvet	The Sheriff
	Finding Hope	Sheriff Avery	Short film
2012	Treasure Buddies	Thomas Howard
	Extracted	Father Riley
	Waterwalk	Jim T.
	FDR: American Badass!	Senator Bronson
	Last Call	Harold
	Bad Ass	Father Miller
	The Watermen	Belvin Lee Smith
	3 Days of Normal	Chief Dale Nickens
	Stitch in Time	Norman Stitch
	Dead Man's Burden	Hank "Three Penny Hank"
	BearCity 2: The Proposal	Gabe
	Breathless	Deputy Cole
2013	Texas Chainsaw 3D	Farnsworth
	Blue Dream	Ted Sellers
	Lonely Boy	Mr. Fitz
	Girl Meets Boy	Raymond
	Lionhead	Bronowitz, The Lawyer
	The Secret Village[3]	Paul
	Coffee, Kill Boss	Vincent Brutsi
	Mischief Night	The Trucker
	Friend Request	Frank
	Munchausen	The Doctor	Short film
2014	The Scribbler	Officer O'Reilly
	There's Always Woodstock	Mr. Harmon
	Gone Doggy Gone	Stan Janson
	In Your Eyes	Mr. Padgham
	Lovesick	The Father
	Friended to Death	Dan
	The Cabining	"Sarge"
	Transformers: Age of Extinction	The Landlord
	One Week Vacation	Kevin Winters	Short film
	The Turtle's Head	Detective Bing Shooster	Short film
	The Three Dogateers	Santa
	Pilot Error	Roy Grimm
2015	Amnesiac	The Postman
	Primrose Lane	Officer Braggs
	Roommate Wanted	Dr. Hoffman
	Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant	The Bartender
	Contracted: Phase II	"Deuce" Gelman
	Daddy	Al Rubin
	Sex, Death and Bowling	Father Joe
	Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves	Sheriff Ryan
	Dementia	Sam
	Jimmy's Jungle	Grandpa Bell
2016	Pee-wee's Big Holiday	Dan
	Fear, Inc.	Bill
	Medal of Victory	Ted Crump
	Citrus Springs	George
	Last Man Club	Grady
	Heels	Calvin Lackey
	Schlep	Uncle Bill
2017	Miyubi	Grandfather	Short film
	Swing State	Tom Fleischman
	Breaking Legs	Principal Bater
	Nowhere, Michigan	Martin
	Pitching Tents	Grandpa
	20 Weeks	Keenan
	You Have a Nice Flight	Bob
	The Meanest Man in Texas	Mr. Kilpatrick
	Aquarians	Father Rob
	Golden Vanity	The Radio Announcer
	Delight in the Mountain	Judge George Hinton
2018	Bad Apples	Principal Dale
	For the Hits	Grandpa George
	Bullitt County	The Mister
	Hyde Park	Clarence Potts
	Fishbowl California	Glen
	PawParazzi	Bobby
	West of Hell	Mr. Braxton
	Living Room Coffin	Nate
	The Invisible Mother	Archie
	Randy's Canvas	Professor Hausdorff
	The Acorn	Mr. Ives	Short film
	Puppy Star Christmas	Santa Claus
2019	Limbo	Phil
	Chase	Turley
	15 Minutes at 400 Degrees	John	Short film
	3 from Hell	Sheriff Wolfe
	The Incredible Enzo	The Magician	Short film
	What's Buried in the Backyard	Allen Palms
	Made Vicious	Lawyer Justice
2021	Destination Marfa	"Skeeter"	DVD, Amazon, and VUDU

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Other Side of Hell	Tattooed Man	Television film
1989	My Two Dads	Ed Steinbauer Jr.	Episode: "Say Goodnight, Gracie"
	Dragnet	Oliver Brady	Episode: "Nouveau Gypsies"
	Falcon Crest	George Beeker	Episode: "Payback"
	Cross of Fire	Duvall	Television film
	Cast the First Stone	Dickson	Television film
1989, 1990	Quantum Leap	Clifford Vargas, Lieutenant Lannon	2 episodes
1989, 1992	Murder, She Wrote	Sergeant Devon O'Malley, Aaron	2 episodes
1989–1993	L.A. Law	Roger Beekman, Edmund Clancy	3 episodes
1990	Nasty Boys	Gardner	Episode: "The Good, the Bad, and the Nasty"
	His & Hers	Mr. Mueller	Episode: "Dueling Therapists"
	People Like Us	Anthony Feliciano	Television film
	Broken Badges	Unknown Character	Episode: "Pilot"
1990–1991	Ferris Bueller	Principal Ed Rooney	13 episodes
1991	Father Dowling Mysteries	L.A. Detective Miller	Episode: "The Malibu Mystery"
	The Golden Girls	Detective Parres	Episode: "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home: Part 1"
	Keeper of the City	Captain Walder	Television film
1992	Civil Wars	Richard Sturdevant	Episode: "Whippet 'Til It Breaks"
	Roseanne	Mr. Evans	Episode: "Lies"
	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Batai	Episode: "The Inner Light"
	On the Air	Dr. Winky	2 episodes
1993	For Their Own Good	Dave Butler	Television film
	Shaky Ground	Henry McCallister	Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor]"
	Sirens	Irving Chattle	Episode: "Keeping the Peace"
	Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life	Judge Longley	4 episodes
	Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss	Mort Aberdine	Television film
1994	Shadow of Obsession	Applegate	Television film
	Gambler V: Playing for Keeps	Frank DiMaio	Television film
1995	Get Smart	Mr. Winters	Episode: "Pilot"
	Trial by Fire	Fred Cobb	Television film
	Too Something	Unknown Character	Episode: "The Candidate"
1996	The Client	Sergeant Phil Rucker	Episode: "Motherless Child"
	Terminal	Security Chief	Television film
	Murder One	Pat Ferguson	Episode: "Chapter Twenty-Three"
	Kirk	Dr. Arthur Bacanovic	2 episodes
	The Single Guy	Mr. Van Wagner	Episode: "Best Man"
1996, 1999	Diagnosis: Murder	Deputy Sheriff Harmon Tolliver, Dustin Woods	2 episodes
1997	Men Behaving Badly	Stranger	Episode: "The Odds Couple"
	High Incident	Roy	Episode: "Knock, Knock"
	Perversions of Science	Gorn	Episode: "People's Choice"
	Ally McBeal	Jack Billings	2 episodes
	The Visitor	Principal Shinagel	Episode: "Fear of Flying"
	The Practice	Mr. Holt	Episode: "Sex, Lies, and Monkeys"
	Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest	Jack Ogden	Television film
1998	Brooklyn South	Donald Jarman	Episode: "Tears on My Willow"
	The Pretender	Graham Hawkes	Episode: "Indy Show"
	The Pentagon Wars	General Vice	Television film
	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Merrick	Episode: "Becoming: Part 1"
	When the Bough Breaks II: Perfect Prey	Detective Bevlan	Television film
	The Ransom of Red Chief	The Narrator, Sheriff "T-Bone" Yankum	Television film
	Mr. Murder	John Wexel	Television film
	Chicago Hope	Milo Schwarz	Episode: "Sarindipity"
	Maggie	The Frog	Voice, episode: "The Greatest Story Ever Toad"
	Home Improvement	Detective Roberts	Episode: "Bewitched"
	Route 9	Agent Wallace	Television film
1998–2001	Columbo	Sergeant Degarmo	2 episodes
1999	Hard Time: The Premonition	Captain Waters	Television film
	Au Pair	Sam Morgan	Television film
	Hard Time: Hostage Hotel	Captain Waters	Television film
2000	Star Trek: Voyager	Seamus Driscol	2 episodes
	City of Angels	Dr. Whitney	Episode: "Ax and You Shall Receive"
	Providence	Simon, Inspector	Episode: "The Storm"
	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Jedediah	Episode: "The Wild, Wild Witch"
	Any Day Now	Unknown Character	Episode: "Nothing Personal"
2001	The West Wing	Officer Jack Sloan	2 episodes
2001–2005	Grounded for Life	Walt Finnerty	45 episodes
2002	The Laramie Project	Henderson Trial Judge	Television film
	ER	Mandrake Patient	Episode: "A Hopeless Wound"
	Another Pretty Face	Hilton March	Television film
2003	Fillmore!	Leo Grant	Voice, episode: "Masterstroke of Malevolence"
	Tremors	Helmut Krause	Episode: "The Key"
	Monster Makers	Detective Brennan	Television film
2003–2004	Married to the Kellys	Uncle Dave	10 episodes
2004	MNTSB: The Crash of Flight 323	Ernie Wilson	Television film
	Star Trek: Enterprise	Dr. Jeremy Lucas	2 episodes
2005	Detective	Father Uxbridge	Television film
	Boston Legal	Dr. Barry Glouberman	Episode: "The Ass Fat Jungle"
2006	George Lopez	Eddie Carter	Episode: "It's a Cliffhanger, by George"
	All of Us	Sergeant Nelson	Episode: "Police... Open Up"
2007	7th Heaven	Crossroads Mayor	Episode: "Inked"
	American Body Shop	Bishop Thomas K. O'Banyon	Episode: "The Bishop and the Pawn"
	The Young and the Restless	Warden McQueen	10 episodes
2008	Our First Christmas	Santa	Television film
2008–2011	Poor Paul	Grandpa Paul, Big Chief Malcolm Roaring Boar	10 episodes
2009	Psych	Army Johnson	Episode: "Earth, Wind and... Wait for It"
	Better Off Ted	Bob	Episode: "Get Happy"
2010	Funny or Die Presents	Jerry, The Mayor	Episode: "Episode Five"
2010, 2011	Nick Swardson's Pretend Time	Ellen's Grandfather, The Mayor	2 episodes
2011	Kickin' It	Mr. Coburn	Episode: "The Great Escape"
2012	Lake Effects	Chairman McCarren	Television film
	The Client List	Jim Richardson	Episode: "Games People Play"
	Men at Work	Gus	Episode: "Wake and Bake"
	The League	Santa Claus	Episode: "A Krampus Carol"
2013	The Mindy Project	George Menken	Episode: "Mindy's Brother"
	Modern Family	Norman	Episode: "The Future Dunphys"
	Mob City	Sergeant Kuzyk	Episode: "Red Light"
2013–2014	The Legend of Korra	Bumi, Additional Voices	Voice, 17 episodes
2013, 2018	Drunk History	James Roche, Ralph Himmelsbach	2 episodes
2014	Maron	David Anthony Sr.	Episode: "The Mom Situation"
	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Umpire Bill Kessel	Episode: "Nick Offerman Wears a Green Flannel Shirt & Brown Boots"
	Mystery Girls	Walt	Episode: "Haunted House Party"
	Mom	John	Episode: "Chicken Nuggets and a Triple Homicide"
	Two and a Half Men	Santa	Episode: "Family, Bublé, Deep-Fried Turkey"
2015	Black-ish	Solomon	Episode: "Big Night, Big Fight"
	The Soul Man	Larry	Episode: "Tell It Like It Isn't"
	Axe Cop	Science Corp Scientist, Secret President Larry, Tutukaka Male	Voice, 2 episodes
2015–2017	NCIS	Walt Osorio	2 episodes
2016	Major Crimes	Mr. Lutz	Episode: "Skin Deep"
	The Real O'Neals	Father Bernard	Episode: "The Real Move"
2016–2018	The Middle	Sheriff Dugan	Episode: "Roadkill"
2017	Love at First Glance	Wally Moore	Television film
	Real Rob	Kyle	Episode: "Priorities"
	Superior Donuts	Murray	Episode: "Flour Power"
	Mr. Student Body President	Principal	Episode: "Last Year"
	In the Rough	Duke "Chopper" McNeil	7 episodes
2018	Another Period	Congressman	Episode: "Congress"
	Corporate	Hubert	Episode: "Society Tomorrow"
	A Very Nutty Christmas	Dosselmeyer	Television film
2019	Now Apocalypse	Neil	Episode: "The Downward Spiral"
	American Housewife	Gerald	Episode: "Field Trippin'"
2020	Fuller House	Uncle Monty	Episode: "Family Business"
2023	Barry	The Warden	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom	Chief Technician Robert "Pliers" Sykes