ACTOR
Randy Quaid
29 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (29)
- #001
Randy Quaid is the older brother of Dennis Quaid. The two have not been in contact for more than 20 years because of a bad real estate deal in Montecito, California.
- #002
When he arrived in Hollywood, he found work as a doorman on Hollywood Boulevard. Within a year he had a role in The Last Detail (1973), and he went on to earn Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations.
- #003
An arrest warrant was issued for Randy and his wife Evi Quaid on April 14, 2010, by a Santa Barbara, California court for failing to appear over an unpaid hotel bill. In a plea bargain, he was found not guilty of skipping the bill, while Evi was sentenced to a misdemeanor on April 28.
- #004
Together with his wife Evi, who turned out to be half Canadian, he applied for refugee status in British Columbia, Canada, citing the "Hollywood StarWhackers." They withdrew their refugee claims because Evi held dual citizenship.
- #005
He married his wife Evi Quaid three times: once in Montecito, California; once near his favorite hotel in Hollywood and his Walk of Fame star; and once in Toronto, Canada, since applying for refugee status. They married in 1989 at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Twenty years later, in 2009, they were arrested on charges of defrauding an innkeeper, conspiracy and theft for allegedly skipping a $10,000 bill at the same hotel after a long stay there in June 2009. It later emerged that $73,000 in excess charges had been made on the credit card used.
- #006
He took a role in The Ice Harvest (2005) when Harold Ramis called and asked him to do it, just as he had when Ramis asked him to appear in his first "Vacation" film as director.
- #007
On October 7, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. At the Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony, he said the star was near the Roosevelt Hotel, where the aspiring actor had first stepped off the bus from Houston thirty years earlier.
- #008
He and his wife lived for long stretches in luxury hotels such as the Bel-Air in Los Angeles and the Carlyle in New York.
- #009
In his spare time he enjoys painting.
- #010
He played the character Doc Holliday in the film Purgatory (1999). His brother Dennis Quaid played the same character in the film Wyatt Earp (1994).
- #011
He appeared in four films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Last Picture Show (1971), Bound for Glory (1976), Midnight Express (1978) and Brokeback Mountain (2005).
- #012
In 1994 he was living in a house in Santa Monica, but when an earthquake destroyed the house he flew to New York, moved into the Carlyle Hotel and stayed there for about a year before returning to Los Angeles.
- #013
From 2004 to 2010 he was the voice of Capital One credit cards.
- #014
He was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 22 for his work with Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973).
- #015
He was exactly five inches taller than his brother Dennis Quaid.
- #016
He attended the University of Houston.
- #017
Quaid's father, Buddy Quaid, told Randy that he was a twice-removed first cousin of the entertainer Gene Autry. Gene's maternal grandparents, Andrew Clinton Ozment and Margaret Malinda Pierce, were also Quaid's paternal great-great-grandparents. Quaid is also said to be a cousin of Richard Harris, but no evidence of this has surfaced.
- #018
He met his wife Evi Quaid on the set of the film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) in New York. Evi, then 24, was a production assistant tasked with driving the actors to set and helping the costume designer.
- #019
He moved to Los Angeles, California, on his 21st birthday.
- #020
Randy Quaid is the former brother-in-law of P. J. Soles and Meg Ryan.
- #021
Randy Quaid was considered for the role of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
- #022
Randy Quaid played two real-life honorary colonels, Tom Parker and Harland Sanders.
- #023
Randy Quaid is the father of seven frozen embryos with his wife Evi Quaid. He has a child named Amanda Quaid from his marriage to his former wife Ella Jolly.
- #024
Randy Quaid has an Australian cattle dog named Doji Quaid.
- #025
Randy Quaid was directed by his wife Evi Quaid in the film The Debtors (1999).
- #026
Randy Quaid's father, Buddy Quaid (born William Jesse Rudy John Quaid, Jr.), left the family after Randy moved to Hollywood and gave Quaid a half-sister named Brandy Quaid and a half-brother named Buddy Quaid (full name: William Jesse Rudy John Quaid III).
- #027
Randy Quaid is the uncle of Zoe Grace Quaid, Boone Quaid and Jack Quaid.
- #028
Randy Quaid endorsed Donald Trump's 2024 presidential candidacy.
- #029
Randy Quaid is the brother-in-law of Kimberly Buffington.
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