Bernie Casey

Bernard Terry "Bernie" Casey (born June 8, 1939) is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University. As one of the nation's best high-hurdlers; Casey earned All-America recognition and a trip to the finals at the 1960 United States Olympic Trials. In addition to national honors, Bernie Casey won three consecutive Mid-American Conference titles in the high-hurdles, 1958–60.

Acting career
Casey began his acting career in the film Guns of the Magnificent Seven, a sequel to The Magnificent Seven. From there he moved between performances on television and the big screen such as playing team captain for the Chicago Bears in the TV film Brian's Song. In 1979 he starred as widower Mike Harris in the NBC television series Harris and Company, the first weekly American TV drama series centered around a black family. In 1981, he played a vice detective opposite Burt Reynolds in the feature film, Sharky's Machine.

In 1983 he played the role of Felix Leiter in the non-Eon Productions James Bond film Never Say Never Again. His comedic role as Colonel Rhombus in the John Landis film Spies Like Us was followed by appearances in the Revenge of the Nerds sequels; Casey also appeared in the movie Hit Man.

Also, during his career he worked with such well-known directors as Martin Scorsese in his 1972 film Boxcar Bertha and appeared on such television series as The Streets of San Francisco and as U.N. Jefferson, the national head of the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity in Revenge of the Nerds. In a good-natured spoof of 70s blaxploitation flicks, he played a caricature of himself, and other football players turned actors, in Keenen Ivory Wayans's 1988 comedic film I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. He played a high school teacher in the cult-classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, released in 1989. In Eddie Murphy's 1990 Another 48 Hours, sequel to 48 Hours, Bernie Casey starred as Kirkland Smith, a very influential prisoner with outside connections. 1994 saw Casey guest-starring in a two-episode story arc in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (along with series star Avery Brooks) as the Maquis leader Lieutenant Commander Cal Hudson, and in 1995 as a guest-star on Babylon 5 as Derek Cranston. He has continued working as an actor. In 2006, he co-starred in the film When I Find the Ocean alongside such actors as Lee Majors.

In a piece for NFL Films, he expressed his disillusionment with the NFL and professional sports in general, feeling like his creativity and individuality were thwarted by conservative elements in the league and ownership hierarchy. He also showed off some paintings of his own creation during the piece.

Personal life
Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia. He now resides in Los Angeles, California. He remains an devout Seventh-day Adventist.

Feature filmography

 * Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)
 * ...tick...tick...tick... (1970)
 * Black Chariot (1971)
 * ''Boxcar Bertha (1972)
 * ''Gargoyles (1972)
 * Black Gunn (1972)
 * Hit Man (1972)
 * Cleopatra Jones (1973)
 * Maurie (1973)
 * Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)
 * Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)
 * The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
 * Brothers (1977)
 * Sharky's Machine (1981)
 * Never Say Never Again (1983)
 * Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
 * Spies Like Us (1985)
 * Steele Justice (1987)
 * Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
 * Rent-A-Cop (1987)
 * Backfire (1988)
 * I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
 * Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
 * Another 48 Hrs. (1990)
 * Chains of Gold (1991)
 * Under Siege (1992)
 * The Cemetery Club (1993)
 * Street Knight (1993)
 * The Glass Shield (1994)
 * In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
 * Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1995)
 * On the Edge (2002)
 * Vegas Vampires (2003)