Lucas Stenman

Lucas Stenman (May 12th, 1945 -- ) is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Personal
Lucas Stenman was born in Bismark, North Dakota. He is the younger brother of film director Joe Stenman. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968 with a degree in political science.

In 1979, he had a son with actress Tina Lasher.

He currently lives in Brussels, Belguim and describes himself as "an American-in-exile."

Career
Though he originally planned to pursue a career in politics, Stenman says he always knew that his destiny was not to make people think but to make them laugh. After graduating from Berkeley in 1968, he started performing at local comedy clubs in Los Angeles. Audiences quickly took note of Stenman's absurdist routines and in 1969, he had guest sports on Laugh-In, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Julia, and Mayberry R.F.D. In 1970, he made his film debut with a small role in the soft-core comedy bam et cetera.

Robert Evans first saw Stenman perform in 1970 and was so impressed by the young comedian that he arranged for Stenman to be cast in the pivotal role of Fredo in the film adaption of Mario Puzo's The Godfather. However, it had been reported that Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and James Caan all refused to work with Stenman and, as a result, director Francis Ford Coppola fired Stenman on the first day of rehearsals and replaced him with John Cazale.

Shortly after Lucas was fired from the Godfather, he appeared in the role that he is best remembered for when his brother Joe cast him as Billy, the sensitive, heroin addicted murderer in the infamous 1973 horror film, The House of Blood (a.k.a. She Cried "No!"). Lucas Stenman reportedly improvised much of his role, including the graphic scene in which his father (played by Robert Benson, Jr.) forces Lucas to shoot himself in the head (though some critics have doubted this claim, citing the fact that the exact same scene occurred with identifical dialog in the previous year's Last House On The Left.)

Despite the commercial success of The House of Blood, Stenman did not appear in another movie until 1979 when he appeared in the notorious flop, ''Watch the Skies! ''Though Stenman's comedic turn as Gen. Douglas MacArthur was well-received, the film itself is often cited as one of the worst ever made and Stenman has often said that his career never really recovered.

Subsequent film appearances include The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Crooked (1983), My Au Pair (1985), Mary Worth Gets Laid (1991), National Lampoon's Cancer Ward (1998), and A Tribute To Our Fallen Heroes (2001).