Mark Metcalf

Full Bio Best known for his multi-decade contributions to film as a character actor, Mark Metcalf began life in Ohio but came of age in St. Louis. Though Metcalf entered college with engineering ambitions, he soon gravitated to theater and decided to shift majors, almost on a whim, then moved into the Manhattan theatrical community in his mid-twenties and accepted stage roles in productions of varying magnitudes. 1976-1977 represented Metcalf's breakthrough period -- the period that witnessed him turning heads with a performance in David Rabe's military-themed play Streamers (he reportedly received personal backstage visits and hearty praise from the likes of Warren Beatty and Bette Davis) and another acclaimed supporting turn in the 1977 Best Picture nominee Julia. Metcalf scored broadest recognition, however (and the role with which he permanently became associated), as equestrian Douglas C. Neidermeyer, the sadistic, obnoxious ROTC officer and Omega fraternity president at Faber College, in director John Landis' anarchic blockbuster comedy National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Metcalf purportedly went in auditioning for lady-killer Otter -- the part eventually given to Tim Matheson -- but picked up the Neidermeyer role when he deceptively convinced Landis that he could ride a horse.