HE shot to fame in the 80s in a cult classic comedy about a group of American nerds.
And in the early noughties he had a mainstream resurgence playing Lizzie McGuire’s dad in the hit kids’ TV show.
6
6
Now the acting legend is 71 and enjoys spending his time riding his motorcycle in sun-soaked Los Angeles.
New pictures show him in his black biking leathers with fellow enthusiasts at The Rock Store, in Santa Monica hills.
It’s none other than Robert Carradine, part of the famous Carradine family acting dynasty.
Robert has aged gracefully and is embracing his mid-length white hair and matching beard.
In a nod to his Revenge of the Nerds past, he wore a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses as he straddled his pride and joy.
The star’s breakout role, which told the story of a bunch of geeky students who sought revenge on their bullies, spawned three film sequels as well as a reality show, King of the Nerds, hosted by Robert and his original Nerds co-star Curtis Armstrong.
The idea of rebooting the franchise for a reality TV audience belonged to Robert’s ex-wife, Edie.
Robert told The Pop Dose in 2013: “She said, ‘Remember five years ago when we tried to launch a reality show?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She said, ‘I think maybe we should try to do it again.’
“So I gave a call to Curtis (Armstrong) and said, ‘Are you up for this?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, absolutely!’ So I called my agent, Gordon MacDonald, and it turns out he was friends with Jimmy Fox of Electus, which is one of the production-studio components to the show.
“And they got very excited about a meeting, so we took the meeting, and afterward I found out from Jimmy, who’s their head of production, that he called my agent and said, ‘Please don’t let the guys go anywhere else. Just give me two weeks, okay? We love the idea!'”
Contestants lived together in a house dubbed ‘Nerdvana’ and competed in a series of geeky challenges like giant chess and flying live-action helipads to win $100,000.
There were also cameo appearances from famous names like George Takei, Kevin Smith, Simon Garfunkel and John Oates.
Robert stumbled into the acting world after initially wanting to be a race car driver.
On his half-brother David’s insistence, he auditioned for the John Wayne western The Cowboy as a nervous 17-year-old and got the part, admitting it didn’t require much fakery.
The siblings then worked together on Martin Scorcese’s Mean Streets in which Robert’s serial killer murdered David’s character.
In the early noughties, a decade before his reality show was aired, Robert became a familiar face on the Disney Channel opposite Hilary Duff.
He called his casting in Lizzie McGuire a “godsend”.
“I didn’t really think that they were going to go for somebody of my style and type as Lizzie’s father,” he told Culture Brats.
“And then I found out after the fact that they’d written this guy to be kind of loose and devil-may-care, which I am. [Laughs.] And that seemed to fit the Lizzie McGuire mode.”
Robert’s dad John was an acclaimed character actor who racked up 351 acting credits in his 82 years, including Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein and Preacher Casy in John Ford‘s The Grapes of Wrath.
His brother Keith also has a long list of famous roles to his name ranging from 70s films The Duellists and Pretty Baby, to modern TV shows Deadwood, Dexter and The Big Bang Theory.
6
6
6
6
Robert Carradine’s best-known acting roles
Robert Carradine, a member of the famed Carradine acting dynasty, has held a number of memorable roles.
He is perhaps best recognised for his portrayal of Lewis Skolnick, the nerdy yet endearing protagonist of the cult comedy franchise Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and its sequels, which became iconic in the 1980s.
Robert also appeared in the gritty Western The Cowboys (1972), alongside John Wayne, showcasing his versatility as a young actor.
Another standout role was his performance in Mean Streets (1973), directed by Martin Scorsese, where he starred alongside Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.
He played Sam McGuire, the lovable and slightly goofy father in Disney Channel’s hit series Lizzie McGuire (2001–2004).
Robert reprised the role in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), where the McGuire family embarks on a memorable trip to Rome.
He also featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), taking on the role of a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.