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Played by: Randy Quaid
Distinguishing feature: Cheery disregard for social norms; tendency to overreact; horrendous taste in clothing; slight whiff of redneckery; slight whiff generally.
Sample quote: “Mornin’! Shitter was full!”
What we’d get him for Christmas: Lynx Africa. A lot of Lynx Africa.
Before he fell foul of the Star Whackers and headed for Canada, Randy Quaid was a founding member of the 27%-ers, that club of storied character actors who improve any film by roughly 27% even if they just stand around doing nothing. Which is, largely, what Quaid does in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, but he still manages to give the film a burst of sleazy energy that kicks its ‘plot’ into gear. Turning up with his family roughly halfway through, completely unannounced, Eddie is a dunderheaded, freeloading force of nature, a one-man Jeremy Kyle Show who sends Clark Griswold’s meticulously-planned Christmas further off the rails, pouring a chemical toilet into a gas sewer, kidnapping Clark’s boss, trampling upon Clark’s attempts to convince children that Santa exists, and buying more dog food than anyone in the history of the world. The character was funny in the original National Lampoon’s Vacation, but here his buffoonery is raised to Olympic standard, and Quaid is just perfect in the role. Damn those Star Whackers. Damn them all to hell.
10/10
