Raye Birk (born May 27, 1943) is an American film and television actor. He appeared as Pahpshmir in the first and last of the Naked Gun movies, and his television appearances include The Wonder Years, The Golden Girls, Wings, and Cheers, where he portrayed the mailman Walt Twitchell.

Career

Birk appeared as a villain in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). His other film credits include roles in Best Defense (1984), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Doc Hollywood (1991) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). In addition to these roles, he had a frequently occurring role as the assistant principal Mr. Diperna on The Wonder Years; starting with the pilot episode, when he had a conference with Kevin Arnold's parents for throwing food in the cafeteria. (He originally read for the role of Coach Ed Cutlip). While generally antagonist, a more sympathetic role on the show was seen in the award winning episode "Goodbye" where he confides in Kevin that he is Kevin's new math teacher as Kevin's hardnosed algebra teacher has just died. Furthermore, in 1985, 1986 and 1992, he appeared in three episodes of Cheers as Walt Twitchell, a mailman who got into minor altercations with Cliff Clavin. Birk reprised the role of Twitchell in a 2002 episode of the Cheers spinoff series, Frasier, in which the title character (played by Kelsey Grammer) returned to Boston and re-acquainted himself with old friends from the bar. He also appeared three times on 'ALF' as Lenny Scott and Officer Griswald. Raye appeared in several episodes on the TV series Night Court. He was also on a pair of The Golden Girls episodes, both times playing a wedding caterer. He played a recurring role on Coach as university band director Riley Pringle from 1989 to 1993. He also appeared in an episode of Mr. Belvedere as an accordion player. Birk has also guest starred in Due South as the terrorist Francis Bolt in the Episodes "All the Queens Horses", "Red, White and Blue", "Call of the Wild Part One" and "Call of the Wild Part Two". He also had roles in Wings, The X-Files and Babylon 5. He was also on an episode of Home Improvement as one of Tim's poker buddies. His other appearances include Seinfeld, Touched by an Angel, 'ER', and the soap opera Days of Our Lives. From 2004 to 2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Filmography

Film

Television