Kurt Fuller

And I love you. Because I’ve learned that platonic love can exist between two grown men!

I felt so cool. When you’re a freshman in high school, hanging out with a group of seniors just feels awesome. My sister and her friends didn’t always accept me as one of them, but sometimes, they did, and they took me with them when they went to see Wayne’s World. Me and like five or six other young women—one of whom was college-aged—watching one of the hippest movies of 1992. Is it any wonder I will always remember Kurt Fuller from that moment?

Oh, I’d seen him before then, albeit not in much. I’d seen and hated Ghostbusters II in the theatre. I vaguely remember my mom’s having rented Red Heat or watched it on Showtime. And I might have seen his CBS Schoolbreak Special when it aired, because I was definitely still watching those in 1989. But that’s the kind of career he had, where you might catch his episode of 227 or It’s Gary Shandling’s Show or you might not. I’m not even sure he rose to the ranks of the Hey It’s That Guys.

I won’t say Wayne’s World made his career. Because goodness knows there’s a lot of iffy stuff after it. Yes, a Murder, She Wrote, But did you remember there’s a Timecop TV show? He probably does, because he was on all nine episodes of it. So yes, Wayne’s World launched him solidly into being a Hey It’s That Guy at least, I suspect, because goodness knows Gen-X will remember him to the end of their days. And it won’t be for being on all eight episodes of That’s My Bush!

I like telling you about the unexpected depths of the minor actors we cover, and I’m sure Fuller has them, but he’s mostly continued to play minor roles, just in a wide array of things. Werner Klemperer in Auto-Focus. Coroner Woody Strode (presumably named after the actor) from Psych. Quon on Avatar: The Last Airbender. In many ways the Standard TV Career of the last few decades, but still. A few movies as well, some of which you’ve heard of and some of which you likely have not.

He’s not by any stretch the best-known Kurt in Hollywood. Probably not the best-known Fuller to movie fans, come to that. But he’s so good in that iconic role that it’s hard to care what else he’s done and what else he’s known for. He’s Russell, whose name you may not even remember and who may just be “Rob Lowe’s henchman” in your brain. But he is in your brain, and if he isn’t, you should really watch Wayne’s World. In my opinion the best SNL movie ever made, granted not the highest bar.