Film star Randy Quaid was so convincing as Falstaff, that the amateur Seattle players he deigned to work with couldn't tell he was in character, according to an insider close to the production of Lone Star Love, the $6.5 million Old West-themed adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor originally intended to go to Broadway after its Northwest run last fall.
But 26 of Quaid's fellow players accused him of things like smacking another actor in the back of the head on stage, "sexually inappropriate" comments including references to an actress'"gynecological instruments," and improvising lines—the very type of shenanigans one might expect of the character Falstaff. The actor was banned by Actors Equity Association, the theater actors' union, from basically any role in any play in a major theater. The plug was subsequently pulled on the production, and Quaid now faces a $81,572 fine. But he's not taking it lying down, according to folks in the know.