WasteOfTechnology.com » Donald Gibb

Donald Gibb, contrary to what you may have initially thought, is not a member of the successful disco-pop group the Bee Gees (since I know there is huge cross-section of site visitors who are die hard fans of the brothers Gibb). Donald Gibb is a thespian of small and silver screen. An actor of characters ranging from bikers, to tough guys, to jocks, to…well that’s pretty much it. A constant source of comedic relief, Gibb, perhaps best known as Ogre in the Revenge of the Nerds series, holds a high position in the realms of our popular culture.

Some actors stray from the idea of being pigeonholed. The concept of being stuck in a certain type of role can be detrimental to the careers of actors who wish to stretch their barriers, and move on to adventurous new roles. For others, it is this typecasting that makes their career a success. Donald Gibb falls under this category.

His first major role was as "the Ogre," Frederick Polawatski ("Ogre you assh*le…Ogre") in Revenge of the Nerds. In this film he portrayed your classic jock. Star football player, member of the Alpha Beta fraternity, a drinker of beer, a marauder of women, Ogre encompassed everything anti-nerd. His dangling of a man over the balcony as he screams "NERRRDDS!" is a sure sign of things to come and pretty much sums up his character. Other classic lines such as "Smell this one nerd!" as he wings a jock strap at the Japanese student Takashi immortalized Ogre.

As his ROTN moniker claims, Gibb is nothing short of an Ogre. A large man with scraggly hair, he had a physical appearance not to be matched. This large body was put to use in Bloodsport. In this film, Gibb portrayed Ray Jackson, really the only real role aside from the his roles in the Revenge of the Nerds franchise. Here, he was an American supporter of Frank Dux for the "kumite." His rough and ready style of fighting was one of many contrasting styles in this illegal underground martial-arts competition. It obviously didn’t work out to well. And don’t even ask about his role in Bloodsport 2, I’m afraid to even touch that one.

"So with these two roles as his real movie roles, what is the big deal with Donald Gibb?" you may be asking with a bemused look on your face. Well as I said before, there are some actors whose whole career is based on being stuck with one association. Whether they always portray an angry old guy, a nerdy character, or whatever the case may be, this can actually benefit the career of the actor. Well since the early 1980’s, Donald Gibb has appeared in countless television shows, and in each case portrays a biker or some similar form of tough guy He’s appeared in various sitcoms as a form of comic relief (i.e. Slasher in Step By Step or a bouncer in Cheers). Also he’s appeared in some action dramas such as MacGyver and Magnum P.I.

Just take a look at some of the sitcoms he has appeared in, a small selection of his 37 total:

Step by Step, Renegade, Empty Nest, Boy Meets World, Cheers, 227, MacGyver, Quantum Leap, Weird Science, Kirk (Kirk Cameron’s short lived suckathon of a sitcom), Night Court, The X-Files, Magnum P.I., The A-Team, Hunter, Knight Rider, My Two Dads, Pacific Blue.

Some of the names of his characters on these shows: "Scarface," "Biker Dude," "Slasher," "Tiny the Bouncer," "Herman the German," "Hog Adams," "Stryber," "Skull Crusher," "Motoface."

From being a main character and staple of Revenge of the Nerds I-IV, to being a character actor throughout some of the greatest television to hit the dial, there is little question that he is anything short of a legend. You are not convinced? Well they say a picture says a thousand words, so here’s a few thousand words for you…