Stephen Furst's breakout film was 1978's ANIMAL HOUSE, in which he played "Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman," a freshman hoping to join a fraternity at Faber College. The scene in the film in which "Bluto" (John Belushi) smashes a bottle over his head to cheer Flounder up took eighteen takes, because Furst kept laughing. In another scene, the female clerk, from whom Flounder buys marbles, is actually his wife. Flounder's handling of groceries in a supermarket scene was done in a single shot. Stephen Furst deftly caught the many items director John Landis and Tim Matheson threw at him, amazing Landis.
"Doug Niedermeyer's" line "You're all worthless and weak, now drop and give me twenty!" was used in the Twisted Sister song "We're Not Gonna Take It" (Mark Metcalf, who played Niedermeyer, appears in the video). In addition, the music video for Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" features a high school student, clearly based on Flounder, being ridiculed by a teacher (Metcalf again). At the video's conclusion, the principal (played by Stephen Furst) sprays Metcalf in the face with seltzer water.
The success of ANIMAL HOUSE spurred the creation of a 1979 spin-off television series, called "Delta House". Cast members reprising their roles from the film included John Vernon (Dean Wormer), Stephen Furst (Flounder), Bruce McGill (D-Day), and James Widdoes (Hoover). Priscilla Lauris, who played Dean Wormer's secretary in the movie, also returned to reprise her role, and her character was given a name (Miss Leonard). Josh Mostel was cast as Jim "Blotto" Blutarsky, brother of Bluto, the character played in the film by John Belushi.
Because of television Standards and Practices, the raunchy humor, drug references, and foul language featured in ANIMAL HOUSE didn't survive the transition to TV. As a result, "Delta House" suffered in comparison. That it aired during the so-called "family hour" (8:00 PM on Saturday nights) led to even more watering down.
Despite being scheduled against "CHiPs" on NBC (the 25th highest rated show for the season), "Delta House" initially did well in the ratings. However, executive producers Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman's constant fights with ABC over content led the network to cancel the show after 13 episodes.
In 1982's National Lampoon's CLASS REUNION, Furst played "Hubert Downs," a lewd former classmate of "Bob Spinnaker" (Gerrit Graham). Other than producer Matty Simmons, Furst was the only ANIMAL HOUSE alumnus to be associated with this film. Michael Miller directed. Elmer Bernstein's son Peter provided the unreleased score.
The success of ANIMAL HOUSE spurred the creation of a spin-off television series, called "Delta House". Cast members reprising their roles from the film included John Vernon (Dean Wormer), Stephen Furst (Flounder), Bruce McGill (D-Day), and James Widdoes (Hoover). Priscilla Lauris, who played Dean Wormer's secretary in the movie, also returned to reprise her role, and her character was given a name (Miss Leonard). Josh Mostel was cast as Jim "Blotto" Blutarsky, brother of Bluto, the character played in the film by John Belushi.
And is that a young Michelle Pfeiffer as the blonde sorority girl in the ad for "Delta House" I see?
Furst had a small role in the 1983 nuclear apocalypse television movie THE DAY AFTER. Nicholas Meyer directed the film. The finale to David Raksin's score was recorded for a 1994 edel compilation CD.
"Bob McGraw" (Tim Matheson) is in his 12th year of college, goofing his way through life. Bob, "Irwin" (Sandy Helberg) the alcoholic geek, "Gonzer" (Stephen Furst) the human food disposal, and "Max" (Dan Monahan) the ne'er do well are four losers forced and bribed to represent their university in an intercollegiate raft race, in the 1984 comedy UP THE CREEK. Tim Matheson and Stephen Furst are fraternity brothers in this movie, just as they were fraternity brothers "Otter" (Matheson) and "Flounder" (Furst) in ANIMAL HOUSE.
Robert Butler directed the film. Epic Records released a song-track LP, but apparently only in Europe. In the U.S. it appeared on the Pasha label. William Goldstein's score was made available as a download by New Gold Music in 2014.
He had a weight problem throughout his life, and had diabetes during production on the film. He then lost a substansial amount of weight and regained his health. R.I.P. Stephen Furst.
Stephen Furst joined the cast of the NBC television series "St. Elsewhere" in its second season and stayed with the show until its conclusion. He played "Dr. Elliot Axelrod" in a total of 97 episodes. Although "St. Elsewhere" earned critical acclaim, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing, and was ranked No. 20 on TV Guide's list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", it never ranked higher than 49th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings over its six-season, 137-episode run. Nevertheless it was highly influential in the way it portrayed doctors and the medical profession, and its effects were seen on such later shows as "ER" and "Chicago Hope."
The young doctors of "St. Elsewhere": Clockwise from upper left: Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, Stephen Furst, Denzel Washington.
Furst did not appear in the opening credits of the show until its third season (Dave Grusin did the main title theme):
Furst played "Peter" in THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, a 1985 episode of Shelly Duvall's Showtime series "Faerie Tale Theatre". Howard Storm directed the show, which was scored by Stephen Barber.
After the wrap-up of "St. Elsewhere," Furst took a role in another series, playing "Father Gabriel 'Gabe' Podmaninski" in the situation comedy "Have Faith", which was about a Catholic parish in a less-than-desirable Chicago neighborhood. ABC inserted the series into its Tuesday night schedule on 18 April 1989, at 9:30 PM, to replace "Anything But Love." Although popular, that freshman show was to be retooled and recast for its second season, so ABC was not keen on re-running first season episodes. "Have Faith" was going up against NBC's "In the Heat of the Night," the #19 rated series for the year. A quick move to Sunday nights opposite CBS's popular "Murder She Wrote" made things worse, and "Have Faith" died a quick death after only 7 episodes.
In 1994, Stephen Furst began appearing in the sci-fi television series "Babylon 5", which aired on the ad hoc Prime Time Entertainment Network (PETN). The show was set on a space station, Babylon 5, during the years 2258 and 2262. Furst played "Vir Cotto," the Diplomatic Attache to "Londo Mollari" (Peter Jurasik), the Centauri Ambassador to Babylon 5. Furst's character played the role of an Everyman, an ordinary person influenced by personifications of good and evil, struggling with moral choices. As Furst described it, Cotto was Londo Mollari's Jiminy Cricket, his conscience, which, unfortunately, he rarely listens to.
Even though Furst took time away from the series for a role in another failed sit-com (1995's "Misery Loves Company") and for guest appearances on other shows, during "Babylon 5"'s five-year run, he was continuously listed in the show's cast. Furst actually made an appearance on-screen in only about 37 of the show's 110 episodes. During the series' fourth and fifth seasons, Furst directed three of the episodes.
