G. W. Bailey

Life and career Bailey was born in Port Arthur, Texas, where he went to Thomas Jefferson High School with Janis Joplin and Jimmy Johnson. He started college at Lamar University in nearby Beaumont and transferred to Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Bailey left college and spent the mid-1960s working at local theater companies before moving to California in the mid-1970s. He broke into television with a small recurring role as a crime scene police officer on the short-lived detective show Harry O. He then landed one-shot episodic roles on television programs of the day such as Starsky and Hutch and Charlie's Angels. His film debut was in A Force of One (1979), an early Chuck Norris film. By the late 1970s, he got his breakout role as the conniving, cigar-chomping goldbricker Sgt. Luther Rizzo in M*A*S*H. He also appeared as Tom Berenger's sidekick in Rustler's Rhapsody (1985).

He returned to college in 1993, and graduated from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State, in San Marcos, Texas in May 1993, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Theatre. For the 1999–2000 school year, he was the Artist-in-Residence.

In the late 1990s, he starred in three of the seventeen television films and miniseries in the Bible Collection series produced for the TNT television network: Solomon (1997), Jesus (1999), and Paul (2000).

From 2001 to 2019, Bailey served as the executive director of the Sunshine Kids Foundation, which provides trips and activities for hundreds of young cancer patients annually. He first volunteered with the organization after his goddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia.

Filmography (Film and television)

Charlie's Angels (1976, S1 E10: "Consenting Adults") - Mumford How The West Was Won (1977, S1 E2: "Erika") - Ivie CHiPs (1978, TV Series, S1 E14: "Rustling") - Drunk Driver Starsky & Hutch (1976–1978) - Hotel Clerk/Slade Soap (1978, TV Series) - The Hobo Laverne & Shirley (1979, S4 E23: "There's a Spy in My Beer") - Rocko A Force of One (1979) - Erwin Lou Grant (1979) - Water Man/Arlo Karp Happy Days (1979, S7 E9: "Joanie Busts Out") - Jack Whitman The French Atlantic Affair (1979, TV mini-series) - Jake (uncredited) Angie (1979, S2 E11: "Mary, Mary Marries") Benson (1979–1980) - Bartender/Gus Palmerstown, U.S.A. (1980, S1 E5: "The Black Travelers: II") Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980, TV series) - Holfeld Flo (1980–1981) - Lonnie Castleberry/Bull Murder in Texas (1981, TV film) - Richard 'Racehorse' Haynes Bitter Harvest (1981, TV film) - Lazlo Fog (1981, TV film) - Mr. Carrion Hardcase (1981, TV film) - Paul Morgan The Capture of Grizzly Adams (1982, TV film) - Tom Quigley M*A*S*H (1979–1983, TV series) - Sergeant Luther Rizzo/The G.I. St. Elsewhere (1982–1983, TV series) - Dr. Hugh Beale Murder, She Wrote (1984) - Lt. Thibodeau Simon & Simon (1984) - Police Chief Don Potter/Dr. Kyle Stepney - Surgery Police Academy (1984) - Lt. Thaddeus Harris Earthlings (1984, TV Series) - Bobo Runaway (1984) - Chief Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) - Wedding Guest (uncredited) Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985) - Peter Warning Sign (1985) - Tom Schmidt Newhart (1985, TV Series, S3 E20: "R.I.P. Off") - Kyle Nordoff Short Circuit (1986) - Captain Skroeder Mannequin (1987) - Felix Don't Mean Nothing (1987 Music Video by Richard Marx) - Slime Ball Apartment Manager Burglar (1987) - Ray Kirschman Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) - Capt. Thaddeus Harris Hawaiian Dream (1987) - Captain Pierce Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988) - Capt. Thaddeus Harris War and Remembrance (1988, TV series) - Cmdr. Jim Grigg Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989) - Capt. Thaddeus Harris The Gifted One (1989, TV film) - Dr. Winslow Fine Things (1990, TV film) - Grossman Love and Lies (1990, TV film) - Sgt. Halsey Q&A (1990) - Bartender (uncredited) Doublecrossed (1991) - Camp Under Cover (1991, TV series) - Director Waugh Write to Kill (1991) - Dean Sutton A Mother's Justice (1991, TV film) - Joe Comminger Before the Storm (1991, TV film) - Director Waugh Bed of Lies (1992, TV film) - Zeke Zbranek Dinosaurs (1992, S2 E20: "Nuts to War: Part 2") - Sarge An American Story - The Battle of Athens (1992, TV film) - Tom Cantrell Dead Before Dawn (1993, TV film) - Masterson No Child of Mine (1993, TV film) - Lamar Jenkins Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994) - Capt. Thaddeus Harris Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) - Lieutenant (uncredited) The Siege at Ruby Ridge (1996, TV film) - Ralph Coulter Seduction in a Small Town (1997, TV film) - Pat Carter The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1996–1997, Series) - Big Jim Foxworthy Solomon (1997) - Azarel Jesus (1999) - Livio Brothers. Dogs. And God. (2000) - Luther Graham Paul the Apostle (2000) -Barnabas The Thin Blue Lie (2000) - K.C. Scorcher (2002) - General Timothy Moore Home on the Range (2004) - Rusty, the Dog (voice) Nip/Tuck (2005) - Wesley Kringle The Closer (2005–2012, TV Series) - Lt. Louie Provenza Cake: A Wedding Story (2007) - Howard Canter Left Turn Yield (2007) - Man at Crosswalk with Dog Johnny's Gone (2011) - Chet The Newest Pledge (2012) - Mr. Hodgkinson Cupcake Wars Guest Judge (2012) I Am Death (2013) - The Killer Highly Functional (2017) - Dan Major Crimes (2012–2018, TV series) - Lt. Louie Provenza Til Life Do Us Part (2020, short film) - Barnaby Barnes Stargirl (2022, 1 episode) - Mr. Dugan