Biography
David Rasche (born August 7, 1944) is an American theater, film, and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the 1980s satirical police sitcom Sledge Hammer! Since then he has often played characters in positions of authority, in both serious and comical turns. In television he is known for his main role as Karl Muller in the HBO drama series Succession, as well as recurring and guest performances in L.A. Law, Monk, The West Wing, Veep, and Ugly Betty.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Theater Camp
2023
as Dr. Bill Rauch
After the indomitable and beloved founder of a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York falls into a coma, the eccentric staff must band together with...

About My Father
2023
as William 'Bill' Collins XII
Encouraged by his girlfriend Ellie, Sebastian and his Italian immigrant father, Salvo, spend the 4th of July weekend with her wealthy and exceedingly ...

The Good House
2022
as Scott
Hildy Good, a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches who loves her wine and loves her secrets. Her compartmentalized life starts ...

Paper Spiders
2021
as Bill Hoffman
A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.

Swallow
2020
as Michael Conrad
Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their con...

Father Figurine
2019
as Larry Berman
When the wealthy patriarch of a family dies, they discover an unusual request in his will.

Freedom
2014
as Jefferson Monroe
Two men separated by 100 years are united in their search for freedom. In 1856 a slave, Samuel Woodward and his family, escape from the Monroe Plantat...

Amira & Sam
2014
as Jack
Sam, a soldier who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq, meets Amira when he visits her uncle, Bassam, who had served as Sam's Iraqi translator. Bassam ...

The Discoverers
2014
as Cyrus Marshall
Washed-up history professor Lewis Birch takes his begrudging teenagers Zoe and Jack on a road trip to a conference in hopes of jumpstarting his career...

Kill Your Darlings
2013
as Dean
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.

Petunia
2013
as Percy Petunia
Brothers Charlie, Adrian and Michael try to unlearn everything their psychoanalyst parents have taught them about life, as their family unit teeters o...

The Big Wedding
2013
as Barry O'Connor
To the amusement of their adult children and friends, long-divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin are forced to play the happy couple for the sake of t...

Revenge for Jolly!
2012
as Eichelberger
Harry is having a very, very bad day. He returns home from an all-night drinking binge with his cousin Cecil, to discover that his little dog Jolly......

Men in Black 3
2012
as Agent X
Agents J and K are back...in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes ...

Remembrance
2011
as Daniel Levine
Hannah, a young Jewish girl, is rescued from a concentration camp by her Polish boyfriend, and believes he died after their perilous escape. More than...

Blue Eyes
2010
as Marshall
Before his compulsory retirement, on his last day of work, Marshall, JFK airport's chief Immigration officer, detains a group of Latin Americans and e...

In the Loop
2009
as Linton Barwick
The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers...

Peter and Vandy
2009
as Alan
Flashbacks and flash-forwards illustrate the rise and fall of a love affair between two New Yorkers.

Crimes of the Past
2009
as Thomas Sparrow
After Tommy Sparrow is severely wounded in a covert CIA operation, he comes home to discover his wife with another man. Tommy’s rage and wounds fright...

Burn After Reading
2008
as CIA Officer
When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money f...

The Girl in the Park
2007
as Doug
A mother, enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year old daughter 15 years ago, has cut herself off from her ex-husband and son. Ho...
United 93: The Families and the Film
2006
A film interviewing the families of the heroes of United Flight 93, prior to the theatrical release of the feature film, United 93.

Flags of Our Fathers
2006
as Senator
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the s...

United 93
2006
as Donald Freeman Greene
A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers ...

The Sentinel
2006
as President Ballentine
Veteran Secret Service agent Pete Garrison investigates a colleague's murder and is subsequently framed as a mole in an assassination attempt on the P...

The L.A. Riot Spectacular
2005
The controversial satire The LA Riot Spectacular plays for mordent laughs the events that consumed L.A. in 1992, after the police officers on trial fo...

Junior Pilot
2005
as Gen. Perkins
Ricky is a ten-year-old daydreamer and expert on his computer flight simulator program. While on a cross-country flight for a school field trip, Ricky...

Off the Lip
2004
as Dr. Martin Shutte
A young woman's life falls apart while filming a surfing documentary.

Exposed
2003
as Warren Ward
As the presenter of tabloid news show 'Probe', Bob Smith stoops to new lows to expose stories at any cost. When covering the lives of three high-flyin...

Just Married
2003
as Mr. McNerney
Although Tom Leezak and Sarah McNerney come from different worlds, they are both unexpectedly swept off their feet after their first meeting. They qui...

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
2002
as Taylor Abbott
A mother and daughter dispute is resolved by the "Yaya sisterhood" - long time friends of the mother.

Teddy Bears' Picnic
2001
as Elliot Chevron
In Harry Shearer's tongue-in-cheek comedy, a waiter at Zanbesu Glen (a chi-chi Northern California resort) uses his movie camera to spy on the annual ...

The Big Tease
1999
as Stig
Thinking he's competing in Los Angeles' hot Platinum Scissors contest, Scottish hairstylist Crawford leaves Glasgow with a film crew to capture the ev...

Hard Time: Hostage Hotel
1999
as Robert Sinclair
A California congressman's wife and daughter are abducted and held hostage in a historic hotel. Logan McQueen is rushed to the scene to assist his for...

Friends & Lovers
1999
as Richard 'Richie' Wickham
Friends for ten years, a group of twenty-somethings head for the ski slopes as guests of Ian's father. (Ian and dad are estranged because dad worked t...

Pros & Cons
1999
as Jack Stanford
Framed for crimes they didn't commit, two small-timers are headed up the river without a paddle. Now, the only thing that can bail them out is a case ...

The Settlement
1999
as Denny
Swaggering, womanizing Jerry and his hen-pecked buddy Pat are in a bind: their clients aren't dying fast enough! They buy insurance policies from the ...

Tourist Trap
1998
as Derek Early
George Piper, dissatisfied with his dead-end job and longing for adventure, embarks on an RV trip with his family. Guided by an old Civil War diary, t...

That Old Feeling
1997
as Alan
A bride's divorced parents find their old feelings for each other during the wedding reception and over the course of the next few days upsetting the ...

Pie in the Sky
1996
as Amy's Dad
A young man obsessed with traffic patterns attempts to reunite with his first love.

Out There
1995
as Emmett Davis
A Pulitzer Prize winning photographer is fired from his job for not being sensationalistic enough. After he purchases an old camera at a yard sale, he...

Dead Weekend
1995
as Payne
In the midst of an evacuation effort, True World Forces agent Weed must secure an alien spacecraft suspected to have crashed somewhere in the city. Bu...

Magic in the Water
1995
as Phillip, Patient #4
Radio psychologist Jack Black takes his children Joshua and Ashley on a 'vacation' to a lake in British Columbia. While he grinds away at work the chi...

Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
1995
as Ben Landry
Attorney Bill McKenzie takes the case when his niece is framed for the murder of a popular and demanding sitcom star.

Lieberman in Love
1995
as M.C. at Luau
Joe Lieberman is attracted to Shaleen. They begin a professional relationship, which continues even after Joe develops a romantic interest in a woman ...

A Million to Juan
1994
as Jeff
Romantic comedy about an honest Mexican immigrant who struggles without a green card by selling oranges on a street corner. One day a limousine pulls ...

Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994
as Alfred Raine
The Harts find themselves in the middle of a dangerous murder plot, but it isn't clear if the plot it a famous author's fictional murder-mystery, or a...

Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter
1994
as Chaz Frederick
When Cody gets lost while exploring in the woods, he finds a friend in the legendary creature, Bigfoot.
Partners
1993
as "Grave Squad" Lawyer
A junior partner in a law firm, finds out that the wife of a very important client is a former college sweetheart.

Twenty Bucks
1993
as Baker
A story about the life of a twenty dollar bill as it weaves in and out of the various lives of several people.

Barbarians at the Gate
1993
as Ted Forstmann
F. Ross Johnson decides to buyout his own tobacco firm RJR Nabisco after the plans of the launch of his new product, a smokeless cigarette Premier, fa...

Bingo
1991
as Hal Devlin
Bingo, the runaway circus dog, is off the leash and saving Chuckie's life! Bingo and the boy become the best of friends in this canine comedy featurin...

Delirious
1991
as Dr. Paul Kirkwood / Dennis
A soap opera writer gets hit on the head and wakes up as a character in his own show.

Silhouette
1990
as Sheriff Kyle Lauder
An architect witnesses a brutal murder in a small Texas town.

Masters of Menace
1990
as Buddy Wheeler
The Masters of Menace are actually a motorcycle gang. When one of their own dies while performing a dangerous bike stunt, they decide to cross the cou...

Wedding Band
1990
as Sloane Vaughn
A couple who both work at wedding receptions encounter complications when they decide to marry.

An Innocent Man
1989
as Detective Mike Parnell LBPD
Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a maj...

Wicked Stepmother
1989
as Steve Fisher
A mother/daughter pair of witches descend on a yuppie family's home and cause havoc, one at a time since they share one body & the other must live in ...

Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall
1987
as Cal McGinnis
In this short film, our unemployed hero finds that getting that great job depends a lot on whom you choose to dance with at Ray's Male Heterosexual Da...

Made in Heaven
1987
as Donald Summer
Deceased drifter Mike arrives in Heaven and quickly falls for newborn soul Annie, soon to start her assignment on Earth. When Annie leaves, Mike follo...

Native Son
1986
as Buckley
In 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teen...

Cobra
1986
as Dan
A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far reaching plans.

Code Name: Foxfire
1985
as Sam Rawlings
Pilot for TV series released on home video.

Best Defense
1984
as Jeff
An engineer fails to get the bugs out of a tank before an Army officer has to use it in Kuwait.

The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck
1984
as Donald Catton
A shopkeeper is condemned by the police and the press for sleeping with a suspected terrorist.

Special Bulletin
1983
as David McKeeson
An evening of TV programming is interrupted by breaking news: in Charleston, South Carolina, two Coast Guard personnel and two members of a local news...

Hellfire
1983
as Rev Howard Woode
Following his performance, a televangelist returns to his dressing room to a visit from God; and she is a beautiful and very angry woman!

Fighting Back
1982
as Michael Taylor
An Italian deli owner forms a vigilante group to rid his Philadelphia neighborhood of street punks.

Honky Tonk Freeway
1981
as Eddie White
Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not ...

Just Tell Me What You Want
1980
as Stopwatch Producer
A television producer woman tries to let down her overbearing boyfriend who is her boss. She wants to marry with a young writer.

Something Short of Paradise
1979
as David Ritchie
A young couple in New York are having problems with their relationship.

Manhattan
1979
as Television Actor #3
Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best fr...

Sanctuary of Fear
1979
as Jack Collins
A Manhattan priest with a penchant for solving crimes goes to the aid of a young actress. She is becoming enmeshed in a series of bizarre incidents sh...