Engaging comic actor, tall and freckle-faced with a neighborly air, whose strong suit has been enacting a naif's befuddlement and a slapstick-style physical elasticity. After starting out in regional theater, he made his mark as the blundering senior in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982). Reinhold is best known as the ineffectual detective Billy Rosewood, opposite Eddie Murphy in the blockbuster "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984) and its sequels.
After playing in two 80s smash films, "Ruthless People" (1986) and "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), Reinhold's profile receded a bit. He worked as an actor on cable TV-movies including "Black Magic" (1992) and, on one occasion, as a producer of the Cinemax special "Judge Reinhold and Demi Moore in The New Homeowner's Guide to Happiness" (1987). Most of his feature acting work of the same period could be charitably described by the title of a 1991 film, "Near Misses", in which he starred. In 1994, he came to the fore once again with "Beverly Hills Cop III", an Emmy-nominated guest appearance on the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" and a supporting role in "The Santa Clause".
Reinhold worked steadily in B-movies and telepics for over a decade, but rarely did he find the kind of prominent exposure he experienced in the 1980s. He also experimented with roles in various TV series, but none of them found solid footing in the Neilson ratings. He appeared in the TV version of writer-director Kevin Smith's "Clerks" as The Honorable Judge Reinhold, and took over the Charles Grodin role in a pair of straight-to-video sequels to the St. Bernard comedy "Beethoven" before reprising his most recent high-profile part in the "The Santa Claus 2" (2002).
- Also Credited As:
Edward Ernest Reinhold Jr
- Born:
May 21, 1957 in Wilmington, Delaware, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, TV producer
Family
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Father: Edward Ernest Reinhold Sr.
Significant Others
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Companion: Kaitlin Hopkins. born c. 1964; engaged to be married since May 1993; no longer together
Education
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Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, Virginia
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North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Milestones
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1979 Film acting debut in Running Scared
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1979 TV acting debut, Survival of Dana
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1982 First starring film role, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
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1984 Played Detective Billy Rosewood in the first of three Beverly Hills Cop films starring Eddie Murphy
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1986 Cast as hapless stero-dealer-turned-kidnapper in Ruthless People
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1987 Produced and starred in TV-movie, Judge Reinhold and Demi Moore in The New Homeowner s Guide to Happiness
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1987 Reprised role as Billy in Beverly Hills Cops II
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1988 Cast as The Yank in A Soldier s Tale
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1990 Cast as Harmony in comedy Daddy s Dyin ...Who s Got the Will?
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1990 Had a notable guest appearence as Neal the Close-Talker on an episode of Seinfeld
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1992 Starred in the TV-movie thriller Black Magic
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1994 Again portrayed Billy for Beverly Hills Cop III
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1994 Cast as Dr. Neal Miller in The Santa Claus
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1995 Cast as the lead in the short-lived TV series Raising Caines
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1995 Starred in the telepic As Good as Dead with Crystal Bernard and Tracy Lords
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1998 Small role as policeman in the comedy Homegrown
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2000 Assumed role as Newton family patriarch in video sequel Beethoven s 3rd
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2000 Voiced The Honorable Judge Reinhold in epsiodes of the animated TV spin-off of Kevin Smith s film Clerks
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2001 Returned for sequel Beethoven s 4th
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2002 Reprised role as Neal in The Santa Claus 2
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2005 Cast in the TNT miniseries, Into The West
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2006 Reprised role opposite Tim Allen in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
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Acted in regional theater