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Dean Cameron

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the American politician, see Dean Cameron (politician). For the Australian inventor, see Dean Cameron (inventor).

Dean Cameron
Cameron in July 2015
Born
Dean Eikleberry

(1962-12-25) December 25, 1962 (age 61)
Morrison, Illinois, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • musician
Years active1983–present
Known forFrancis "Chainsaw" Gremp in Summer School, Dave Marshak in Ski School and Ski School 2 and for The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam
Spouse
Jessie Marion
​
(m. 2004)​
Children1
WebsiteDeanCameron.com

Dean Cameron (born Dean Eikleberry; December 25, 1962) is an American television and film actor and musician. He is known for his role as Francis "Chainsaw" Gremp in the 1987 Mark Harmon comedy Summer School. He also played Dave Marshak in Ski School and Ski School 2. Cameron, along with comedian Victor Isaac, tour in a two-person show that Cameron wrote, called The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam.

Early life

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Cameron was born in Morrison, Illinois, the son of Kay Elizabeth (Kytle) Huff and Burton Robert Eikleberry.[1] He spent his childhood in Oklahoma and summers in Santa Barbara, California.[2][3]

Career

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Cameron's film roles included Francis "Chainsaw" Gremp in the Mark Harmon film Summer School (1987), the pizza delivery man in Men at Work (1990), and Dave Marshak in Ski School (1991) and Ski School 2 (1994). He has also starred in short-lived television series like Spencer (1984), Fast Times (1986, a spinoff of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High), They Came from Outer Space (1990), and Mister Sterling (2003). He made guest appearances on many TV series, including The Facts of Life, ALF, My Sister Sam, Will & Grace, Mad About You, ER, Felicity, Psych, Shameless, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

He performs a two-person show, The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam, in which he and actor Victor Isaac read from Cameron's 11-month correspondence with a Nigerian 419 scammer. The show was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Festival in 2004 and 2005, the Just For Laughs festival and the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in 2006 and ran in Los Angeles from September 2004 to December 2004.[4] The first professional show was at The Amaz!ng Meeting, TAM2 for the James Randi Educational Foundation in 2004.[2][5]

Cameron co-wrote the 2001 feature film Hollywood Palms, wrote and directed a short film, "Glutton Falls" and directed/choreographed "Bukowsical", a late night musical theater parody at the Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles, California. Cameron directed the videos "Fat Girl"[6] and "Pussy Whipped"[7] for heavy metal band Steel Panther as well as co-wrote the song "Girl From Oklahoma" on their 2009 debut album Feel the Steel and "Supersonic Sex Machine" on their 2011 follow-up album Balls Out. Cameron also co-wrote and directed a presentation pilot for Steel Panther.[8]

In 2006, he originated the role of Carl in Love Tapes, a play based on videotapes sent by a fan to guitarist Steve Vai. Love Tapes was written by Steven Banks and Penn Jillette and directed by Cameron's wife, Jessie Marion.

Cameron was one of the camera operators during the filming of the 2005 film The Aristocrats. During the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he and comedian Paul Provenza shot a live version of The Aristocrats. The intent was to release it on the Special Features of the DVD. Cameron explained to actor Samm Levine in an interview, "We ended up naked and had props like mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup... applejuice... puppets... ". Because they were shooting late at night in a Scottish pub, no one had releases with them, one of the actors refused to sign the form afterwards and the film was never released.[2]

Cameron is mentioned in the comedy-drama TV show Psych when character Shawn Spencer (played by actor James Roday) states, "No one paints a scene like Dean Cameron".[9] The Robot Chicken television series also mentions him on their Christmas special during the introduction. The Star Trek parody opening says "Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, also the birthday of actor Dean Cameron, who played Chainsaw in the movie Summer School, now we celebrate these equally important men with the Robot Chicken Christmas Special".[10]

Since late 1999, has worked as voiceover talent for radio and television commercials and animated series like Regular Show and We Bare Bears.

Victor Isaac, Cameron, Emery Emery and James Randi at the James Randi Educational Foundation's The Amaz!ng Meeting in 2015

Music

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His first purchased album was the hip hop record Straight Outta Compton which he played "the hell out of". Cameron credits his ability to play the guitar to Tammy Moore, a girl from the ninth grade. She asked him if he could play an instrument and he lied and said "I play banjo," The next day, he told her that he also played the guitar. "I had to learn how to play the guitar pretty quickly". He spent the next six months learning to play "Stairway to Heaven" from a friend. In the 1980s, he switched to the bass guitar.[2]

In 2003, Cameron played bass guitar for a LA, local band called The Thornbirds (formerly called The Ducks). Cameron co-wrote the songs "Girl from Oklahoma" and "Supersonic Sex Machine" for the band Steel Panther, two of the members later joined The Thornbirds. When that group released All The Same in 2004, both of the songs were on that album.[11] Cameron is also in a karaoke band that parodies actor/musicians, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Corey Hart called Coreyoke.[12] Cameron says on his website that "may be the most fun i’ve ever had in my long life."[13] The story line behind Coreyoke is that they are musicians from the 1980s who are trying to revive their careers and play backup for Michael Jackson.[2]

Personal life

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Cameron is married to Jessie Marion, granddaughter of actress Elena Verdugo, and lives in Los Angeles. Their son, Duncan, was born in August 2009. Cameron rarely uses capital letters.[13] Cameron grew up without religion, and was a teen before he realized that "there was a thing called atheism". He credits his father with teaching him and his siblings to think critically.[14]

Listed as a hard-core Libertarian on Cameron's IMDB profile, he tells interviewer Samm Levine that he prefers the term "Freedom Fighter".[2] Cameron is also the inventor of the Bill of Rights: Security Edition Cards which have the Bill of Rights stamped on metal the size of a normal playing card. The idea is that they can be carried comfortably in the pocket of a flyer, and when a metal detector beeps after detecting the metal, the carrier will have to hand the TSA federal inspectors the card and "give up his Bill of Rights... before boarding a plane." The website also sells Bill of Rights luggage tags and socks with the rights printed on them.[15]

Filmography

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Film
Title Year
Dead Sea 2024
Radio America 2015
Grindsploitation 2015
Straight Outta Compton 2015
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer 2011
Hole in One 2010
The Growth 2009
Arrow Heads 2009
Doing His Best 2007
I'm Not Gay 2005
Rainbow's End 2005
The Benefits of Drinking Whiskey 2005
The Curse of the Hideous Gimp 2005
Grace and the Storm 2004
Tan Lines: The Making of Suntanned Bikini 2003
The Palindrome Affair 2003
Sit and Spin 2002
Hollywood Palms 2001
Deep Core 2000
It's a Shame About Ray 2000
Two-Eleven 1999
Hi-Life 1998
Some Girl (uncredited) 1998
Midnight Blue 1997
Highball 1997
Kicking and Screaming 1995
Ski School 2 1994
Sleep with Me 1994
Charlie's Ghost Story 1994
The Killing Box 1993
Miracle Beach 1992
Ski School 1991
Men at Work 1990
Disturbed 1990
Rockula 1990
Bad Dreams 1988
Summer School 1987
Facing It: My Friend's an Alcoholic 1985
Television
Title Year
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 2016
Shameless 2014
Psych (season 8, episode 120) 2014
TMI Hollywood 2014
The Comeback Kids 2014
Instant Mom 2013
The Newsroom 2013
Glee 2013
The Neighbors 2013
American Horror Story 2012
See Dad Run 2012
The Mentalist 2012
Southland 2012
Doing His Best James Dean 2007
Mister Sterling 2003
State of Emergency 1994
They Came from Outer Space 1990
ALF 1990
Fast Times 1986
Prince of Bel Air 1986
Things Are Looking Up 1984
Spencer 1984

References

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  1. ^ "Dean Cameron Work History". Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Levine, Samm. "KPC: Dean Cameron #237". Kevin Pollaks Chat Show. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  3. ^ "Episode 34". SkepticallyYours.net. April 15, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  4. ^ "urgent & confidential dean cameron's nigerian spam scam scam". Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  5. ^ "Episode 11". Ardent Atheist. April 27, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  6. ^ "Fat Girl". Steel Panther. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  7. ^ "Steel Panther – Pussywhipped". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  8. ^ "Steel Panther – Presentation". Retrieved August 17, 2015 – via Vimeo.
  9. ^ "Psych's Dean Cameron shout-out". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  10. ^ "Star Wars Robot Chicken Intro". Robot Chicken. Retrieved August 22, 2015.[dead YouTube link]
  11. ^ Obert, Alex (June 6, 2014). "on the line with dean cameron". Journey of a Frontman. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  12. ^ "Coreyoke Playlist". Coreyoke. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Dean Cameron Bio". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  14. ^ "Episode 167". Ardent Atheist. April 8, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  15. ^ "Bill of Rights – Security Edition Blog". Bill of Rights – Security Edition. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
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