25 GREAT COMEDY FILM VILLAINS: ACTORS

1) HARVEY KORMAN (BLAZING SADDLES)

“Now go do… that voodoo… that you do… so well!” And no one has ever played a comedy villain as well as Korman in one of Mel Brook’s greatest films… Harvey’s Hedley Lamarr controls the screen with perpetual annoyance to everything and everyone under the sun…

2) JACKIE GLEASON (SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT)

Perhaps the greatest crooked cop in the history of comedy cinema, Jackie Gleason stole the show away from Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, and by the third movie it was only Gleason and his dimwitted son (Mike Henry) – but let’s only center on the original where Jackie rules the road as Sheriff Buford T. Justice of Portague County…

3) TED KNIGHT (CADDYSHACK)

The world needs ditch diggers too… And as long as the rich stay rich and the poor remain caddies, the world of Judge Smails will stay in perfect order, even if Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) insists he "molests collies."

4) JOHN VERNON (ANIMAL HOUSE)

No man could put a partying fraternity into “double secret probation” quite like Dean Wermer, played by John Vernon who, before this, was a heavy in serious films… And yet he plays it just as serious in this groundbreaking John Landis comedy…

5) ALAN ALDA (CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS)

Well half of this sublime Woody Allen classic is comedy, and in that half, Alan Alda, as know-it-all millionaire TV producer Lester (based on Norman Lear?), the polar opposite of Woody’s jealous documentary filmmaker, is the guy that just can’t lose…

6) HERBERT LOM (A SHOT IN THE DARK)

The recently departed Herbert Lom gave Peter Seller’s iconic Inspector Clouseau a run for his money… What wouldn’t those PINK PANTHER films be without the irritated police Chief Inspector Dreyfuss?

7) RICK MORANIS (SPACEBALLS)

Dark Helmet is far more than just a parody of Darth Vader… Upon his opening line, “Colonel Sanders!” – you’ll forget all about satire and embrace the pint-sized villain as his own entity…

8) WARREN OATES (STRIPES)

The loser troop’s boot camp big toe, Sgt. Hulka, orders his men in line: albeit a crooked line… Although John Larroquette is the real baddie, iconic actor Warren Oates keeps Bill Murray and Harold Ramis on their own toes...

9) RALPH BELLAMY AND DON AMECHE (TRADING PLACES)

Since they’re siblings, The Duke Brothers count as one… A single entity of racist monarchy and are likable somehow… Even after losing their money, a bright comeback awaits in the next John Landis/Eddie Murphy project, COMING TO AMERICA…

10) GEORGE FURTH (THE CANNONBALL RUN)

You get the feeling all the actors in this epic road race are having a great ol’ time, that is, except character actor George Furth as party pooper Arthur J. Foyt, who works overtime for the death of all things fun… In other words, of the entire ensemble cast, he seems to be the only one that really needs to perform…

11) TED McGINLEY (REVENGE OF THE NERDS)

Okay, so he might have helped cause the downfall of several TV shows, thus becoming the grand patron of the Jump The Shark dot com site before TV Guide bought and destroyed it, but Ted was a premiere 1980’s villain in the classic nerd revenge picture…

12) THOMAS F. WILSON (BACK TO THE FUTURE)

Biff Tannan is the kind of bully that rules an epic science-fiction comedy… Although he’s downgraded to cartoon status in the awful sequels, his input in the fantastic original, in putting father and son through hell in a 1950’s small town, stops time in its tracks…

13) GARY COLE (OFFICE SPACE)

“Hmmm, yeah,” drones Gary Cole’s Bill Lumbergh, the boss from hell… His presence makes the employees squirm and the audience anticipate his every word…

14) JACK WARDEN (USED CARS)

Playing one good brother, the other bad… The bad one, Roy L. Fuchs, lasts longer and has more input in this Robert Zemeckis/Steven Spielberg comedy...

15) DABNEY COLEMAN (TOOTSIE)

No one played a womanizing 1980’s jerk better than Dabney Coleman… While his chauvinist, groping boss in 9 TO 5 is the main antagonist, his side role as the philandering director in TOOTSIE gets the vote – because it’s a far better movie… 

16) MARK METCALF (ONE CRAZY SUMMER)

Sure we could mention his screaming ROTC drill sergeant Doug Neidermeyer in ANIMAL HOUSE, a character that inspired the famous “What do you wanna do with your life?” spouting Twisted Sister video teacher, but why not give Mark top-villain status for this Savage Steve Holland follow-up to BETTER OFF DEAD starring John Cusack… Metcalf’s Aguilla Beckersted is so wicked he even punts a pooch…  

17) WALLACE SHAWN (THE PRINCESS BRIDE)

There are a few villains to choose from in this Rob Reiner directed cult classic about a, uh, Princess Bride… But Wallace Shawn’s conniving kidnapper Vizzini beats 'em all...

18) JOHN QUADE (EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE)

Cholla is the leader of the Black Widows, a clumsy biker gang ruling the boulevard… But not when Clyde the orangutan stops Cholla with his “Right hook!”

19) HENRY GIBSON (THE BLUES BROTHERS)

What would a villain list be without a Nazi? Comic icon Henry Gibson plays the leader of the Chicago Nazi Party with wry demented energy…

20) RICHARD TYSON (KINDERGARTEN COP)

We should mention his greatness as the tyrannical bully in THREE O’CLOCK HIGH… but the lethal mama’s boy Cullen Crisp in KINGERGARTEN COP is so violent and formidable, he turns a comedy into a suspenseful action flick…

21) JONATHAN BANKS (BEVERLY HILLS COP)

Since this third Eddie Murphy blockbuster mixes action and dramatic suspense along with plenty of laughs, perhaps Jonathan’s sleepy eyed killer, Zack, working for Steven Berkoff, shouldn’t count – but Banks deserves credit… His character gets the ball rolling and eventually winds up with food on his face…

22) DANNY DeVITO (RUTHLESS PEOPLE)

Known as the antagonizing Louie DePalma on the sitcom TAXI, Danny DeVito brings delicious villainy to the big screen as spandex mogul Sam Stone as he ignores his obnoxious wife’s kidnapping in order to land her millions…

23) MARK HOLTON (PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE)

Francis is the spoiled fat kid who gets everything he wants, even what isn’t his i.e. the most important object in the world for Pee Wee Herman…Years later Mark would play serial killer John Wayne GACY with the same expression shown above...

24) ZACK WARD AND YANO ANAYA (A CHRISTMAS STORY)

Like we did the Duke Brothers, both bullies count as one… Scut Farkas and Grover Dill are two bad little dudes and epitomize a youngster’s rough memories of youth…

25) DEMIAN SLADE (BETTER OFF DEAD)

You might not know him by name, but he’s the bicycling paper boy that wants John Cusack to pay “Two dollars!” and he won’t back down till the very end…

YANO ANAYA from A CHRISTMAS STORY plays one of Slade's minions

COMEDY FILM VILLAIN LIST BY JAMES M. TATE