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Bes1208 t1_iugd0ao wrote

My sister had him as a professor at Syracuse. I always asked her how Professor RoboCop was.

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Sweatsock_Pimp t1_iugerzm wrote

He also hosted a show on the History Channel, back when it had shows about history. ‘Engineering an Empire’ I think?

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Limp_Distribution t1_iugm8ly wrote

I loved him in that show and thought he did a great job. I wanted to see him do more.

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Panzerjaegar t1_iugyviq wrote

Holy shit that was robocop?!

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Actiaeon t1_iuimql5 wrote

I grew up watching that show and then I saw Robocop much later and was like "look it's the Engineering an Empire guy!"

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despenser412 t1_iugzysp wrote

As a fan of ancient history I watch a lot of documentaries on YouTube. When he randomly showed up in one it totally took me by surprise. I thought he was going to be some random celebrity used to sell the show. Turns out he's very passionate about that stuff!

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GeorgeLovesBOSCO t1_iuh10ah wrote

I loved that series. I watched it for a class in college and was blown away and still bring up random stuff I learned from it 10+ years later.

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Causelessgiant t1_iuitqbq wrote

My history teacher used to play these when he was drunk, we watched whole damn series lol

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dirtballmagnet t1_iugdrt6 wrote

Here he is invoking his PhD and calling out the studio for almost failing to convey the significance of Pazuzu, the Baalic version of Satan, in the film The Exorcist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdP3VnJxhE0

Peter Weller don't sleep on Pazuzu.

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FastWalkingShortGuy t1_iuggpe7 wrote

Dexter Holland, the frontman of the Offspring and the brilliant poet behind such lyrics as, "I may be dumb, but I'm not a dweeb," and "Uno, dos, tres, quatro cinco cinco seis," has a PhD in molecular biology with his thesis being, "Discovery of mature microRNA sequences within the protein-coding regions of global HIV-1 genomes: predictions of novel mechanisms for viral infection and pathogenicity."

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Lord_Dimwit_Flathead t1_iugphw8 wrote

Greg Graffin, lead singer for Bad Religion, also has a PhD in zoology and lectures from time to time.

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TacoCommand t1_iuh3h9v wrote

That's also pretty fucking rad, thanks for sharing, I had no idea!

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DBDude t1_iuhss60 wrote

And of course Brian May has one in astrophysics, and Sterling Morrison from the Velvet Underground had one in medieval literature.

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nolo_me t1_iuhd8uy wrote

A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, Brian Harold May 2007.

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TomAto314 t1_iuipp3m wrote

IIRC the "gotta keep 'em separated" was in regards to chemistry experiment chemicals or something like that.

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theRealMrBrownstone t1_iugfzca wrote

And he was smart enough to avoid Robocop 3.

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ughit t1_iugm03r wrote

I’m sure he cried himself to sleep on a giant pile of money…

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Sonikkua t1_iuhlpqy wrote

I think you people may be overestimating how much money Peter Weller made doing RoboCop 1 & 2.

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tacknosaddle t1_iuiinkw wrote

He turned down Robocop 3 because he wanted to be in Naked Lunch as he was a big fan of Burroughs (he has a signed first edition of it and says the book had a huge impact on him in the 1960s). When he heard about the project he reached out to them offering his services because he wanted to be in it so badly.

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theRealMrBrownstone t1_iuiixhc wrote

And he read the robocop 3 script and saw that it was shit. Probably.

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tacknosaddle t1_iuikzoj wrote

Probably, but he found out about Naked Lunch while filming Robocop 2 and reached out so it would've been well before that script presumably.

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zoinkability t1_iugn2w3 wrote

Well what do you expect from the rock musician brain surgeon who perfected the Oscillation Overthruster?

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TheJunklest t1_iuhs1jg wrote

You forgot Samurai.

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zoinkability t1_iui22h9 wrote

Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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BoxOfSnoo t1_iuhxuz3 wrote

What's that watermelon doing there?

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Lelabear t1_iujec97 wrote

Really want to know? I happened to be on the set of Robocop quite a bit and hassled Peter about it until he confessed that it was a set up for the next movie (which was never filmed). Supposedly the plot revolved around how watermelons solve the problem of world hunger.

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BoxOfSnoo t1_iujfnld wrote

Both knowing and not knowing are both rewarding, IMO.

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Vesurel t1_iugbi83 wrote

The director Paul Verhoeven also studied and wrote about theology and the life of Jesus. Kyle Kallgren has an interesting video on his movies.

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-GreyWalker- t1_iugdiob wrote

Appropriate seeing as how Robocop is a Jesus allegory.

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jroomey t1_iuhdacl wrote

That explains some bits of Flesh+Blood ig

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Annoschaf t1_iuguyth wrote

He also played Buckaroo Banzai in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. One of my favorite 80's movies.

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trymypi t1_iugf2vh wrote

Dr. Peter Weller*

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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_iugkho4 wrote

I know this isn't as impressive, but he was also the featured guest star in a Fringe episode called "White Tulip", which was probably the best episode that show ever did and is possibly one of the finest episodes of sci-fi television ever made.

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TacoCommand t1_iuh3okz wrote

Without spoilers, why is it your favorite episode of all time?

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irockash t1_iuhi4xg wrote

A one off, but heart wrenching plot that actually gets called back to later in the series. Plus, Robocop.

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wjglenn t1_iuhrf9y wrote

Peter Weller was always a fine actor but in his later years, he’s developed a real gravity. Watching him and John Noble play off one another was a real treat.

Plus, it was a solid sci-fi story with real emotional underpinnings.

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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_iuhs0zm wrote

What the others said: It manages to establish real emotional stakes—and pay them off in a poignant, understated way—all in a single hour of television.

And watching Peter Weller and John Noble share scenes together was fantastic.

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kamyizme OP t1_iuidvgg wrote

Oh my gosh. I totally forgot about that show. I need to rewatch it.

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minutemash t1_iuk714i wrote

Sounds like I should give it a go. Not sure why I haven't before.

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IBeTrippin t1_iugkl86 wrote

Bet he's fun when proctoring tests. Alright students, put your pencils down. You have 30 seconds to comply.

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acaba36 t1_iugcnn4 wrote

Syracuse!!!

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somdude04 t1_iugkbsb wrote

Been watching Cabinet of Curiosities?

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L-do_Calrissian t1_iuifu9j wrote

His was one of two disappointing episodes for me. Just felt like the story was incomplete on that episode in particular.

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Taiut t1_iugbnow wrote

What a guy!

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frankdrebin1212 t1_iugkepd wrote

He hosted engineering an empire on the history channel that was a fantastic show

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lolabythebay t1_iugwef7 wrote

I took a really cool, small math course in college that was called something like "Geometry Through Technology: Art and Nature," and with only a dozen or so students sometimes it just devolved into the professor nerding out about Renaissance art and talking about all the cool stuff he did while living in Florence. He and his wife kind of got to be friendly acquaintances with Weller, who was working on his dissertation at the same time.

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FleurDeezNutz t1_iuhlsy5 wrote

He comes to New Orleans often and always dines at this place I worked at, so I waited on him several times. Always sits by himself, reading a book, and is just the nicest, most humble person you'll meet. Engaging, open, friendly, etc. 1000% awesome human being.

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hillo538 t1_iugqxzm wrote

This post started off in what I thought was my wheelhouse and every successive word carried it out to tide

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cesarmac t1_iugyjub wrote

So looked it up a bit. This dude was doing his PhD while filming Star Trek Into Darkness and submitted his thesis the same year the movie released.

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brkh47 t1_iuhfrty wrote

Also looked it up a bit. He was awarded his PhD in 2014; that means he was 67 years old, when he received it. Pretty cool.

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King_Sombrero t1_iugymu9 wrote

“Dead or alive you’ll study with me”

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borisdidnothingwrong t1_iugghn0 wrote

But you know what I remember most about him?

They said that he could stand, with his feet together like this, and spring straight over a man's head.

If Leon Battista Alberti couldn't have done that, I wouldn't have remembered a thing about him.

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vainamo- t1_iugn0bz wrote

My brother was one of his professors! Cool guy.

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UCLYayy t1_iugplww wrote

Saw him around campus at UCLA almost weekly. Very nice dude.

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YounomsayinMawfk t1_iuhl1le wrote

I know someone who took this class. The first day of class, Peter Weller said, "yes, I played Robocop. I'll give you 15 minutes to ask anything about my film career but after that, no more film questions."

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Mind_taker84 t1_iuhs766 wrote

He played a villain in the show "The Last Ship" where his character was a professor of ancient history and peppers in facts about the renaissance art and architecture throughout his monologues. I loved his History Channel show Engineering An Empire when i was a kid.

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loganallenwolf t1_iuhyyp3 wrote

When Peter Weller directed an episode of the TV show Sleepy Hollow (my wife worked on the show), during breaks he would go out to the parking lot to play his fluglehorn, in his black leather jacket, in the Georgia heat. Everybody liked him on the show.

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ohp250 t1_iugenk3 wrote

That’s pretty gnarly! He was excellent as the collector in The Viewing.

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NecessaryHuckleberry t1_iugj90e wrote

I’ve seen him on a few documentary shows and he is really fun to listen to.

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jcmach1 t1_iugvdz8 wrote

Last time I visited Istanbul, he was filming a documentary at the gates of the Palace for BBC, or PBS... Someone anyway

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right-arrow t1_iugyo5i wrote

And do you want fries with that?

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wendalpendal t1_iugyrgh wrote

Then he shot rapist in the dick and jabbed a pointy thing in another baddie's neck

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metabeliever t1_iuh2olz wrote

Really followed his niche dreams with that robocop money

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tacknosaddle t1_iuij7vf wrote

I said it in another comment but he turned down Robocop 3 so that he could be in Naked Lunch as he's a huge Burroughs fan.

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Sanguiluna t1_iuh2oye wrote

I first discovered this when my history professor in college showed a documentary that Weller was the host/narrator of; literally blurted “That’s fucking Robocop!” out loud when I saw him.

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nsvxheIeuc3h2uddh3h1 t1_iuh2wm8 wrote

Well, Actors do need something to fall back on to pay the bills.

One of the Actors who had one of the leading roles in "Desperate Housewives" became a fully fledged Psychiatrist.

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bigfatmatt01 t1_iuhdc4w wrote

Yeah, he's Dr, Buckaroo Banzai

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iainfull t1_iuhdpx4 wrote

Shit, props to him I guess

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dasang t1_iuhdtfr wrote

Banzai!!!!

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Kahnza t1_iuhfnab wrote

Loved him in the movie Screamers. I don't think most people are even aware of it.

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peoplearecool t1_iuhm4gv wrote

After which went on go become a rich space demon … thanks Guillermo Del Toro!

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linksawakening82 t1_iuhpnq7 wrote

She made me feel deserving like my name was Alex Murphy. She said nice to meet you Yoshimitsu, no I am not worthy.

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AshgarPN t1_iuhrp4b wrote

A real renaissance man.

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m_faustus t1_iuicprc wrote

He’ll always be Professor Banzai to me.

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JoshSidekick t1_iuigvgr wrote

Buckaroo Banzai is a man of many talents.

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Rajaden t1_iuihm16 wrote

This is undoubtedly the most random fact I've heard in a long time. Take my upvote!

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ID-10T-ERROR t1_iuin410 wrote

Meh, you can see the pretentious episode 7 "the viewing" from Guillermo del toros cabinet of curiosities, to get sense of Weller's academic lecture of life and all.

The most boring and disappointing episode so far.

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Zealousideal_Role189 t1_iuj53l0 wrote

Alberti is a good choice. I bet he wrote a pretty interesting paper. Architecture. Art. Books. Philosophy. The dude did it all.

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fwambo42 t1_iuk1fc5 wrote

rich guy hobbies

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