Matthew Broderick was amazing as Ferris Bueller. The same can be said for Jennifer Grey as his sister Jeannie, and Jeffrey Jones as the hellbent Principal Rooney. But what also made the movie shine so brightly was all the supporting characters. Here we look at the most memorable of them and the actor/actress who brought them to life.
Mr. and Mrs. Bueller, played by Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett
They are not bad parents. Heck, they gifted their children with cars and computers. But they are easily fooled and have difficulty seeing or recognizing their own son running alongside or in front of the cars in which they are driving. Cars with very clean windows.
Played by Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett, they were the perfect suburban parents to perfectly mischievous Ferris Bueller. Though downplayed, there was definite chemistry between the two. So much so that they married in real life after shooting the movie.
Economics Teacher, played by Ben Stein
We never found out his name. But he didn’t need one to become films’ most favorite teacher ever. Director John Hughes just asked novice actor Ben Stein to improv a lecture on economics and the rest is history.
Stein’s previous accomplishments were beyond impressive. Speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Ford, Yale-educated lawyer, college professor, fiction and nonfiction writer, and a co-creator of “Fernwood 2 Night!” But boring the hell and saliva out of Ferris’ first period classmates made him a movie icon and set him off on a path to celebrity that continues today with appearances in film, TV and commercials.
Flower Delivery Man, played by Louie Anderson
Most of Louie Anderson’s role as the Flower Delivery Man ended up on the cutting room floor. We never even got to hear him speak. But somehow his performance came through, quietly presenting flowers to the Bueller household from a community desperately concerned about the declining Ferris.
His best moment though had him bopping backup to the sweet poem delivered by the Singing Nurse, played memorably by Stephanie Blake. Because the door is shut in their faces before she could finish, we never actually find out what she would like to do to Ferris, but our own imaginations and rhyming abilities can certainly fill in the blank.
Boy in Police Station, played by Charlie Sheen
Who knew that the Boy in Police Station would one day become a Winning Warlock with Tiger Blood coursing through his veins? And who knew then that Charlie Sheen would one day become very familiar with police stations?
But here is Charlie Sheen at his hushed best, slowly seducing the acidic Jeannie Bueller with soft, measured, unvarnished advice. Jeannie is a girl in need of a life lesson and she finds one from the unlikeliest Boy in the unlikeliest place. And they are soon sucking face.
John Hughes had fond memories of Sheen, who only shot for one day and brought the same ease to the set that he found with his brother Emilio whom Hughes had previously directed in “The Breakfast Club.” Sheen has mellowed out since his infamous meltdown from a few years back, but here in “Ferris” he was at the top of his game and though his appearance was brief, it showed.
Girl on the Bus, played by Polly Noonan
The credits roll and just when you think this comedy classic is over, there’s more. We get one last dose of humiliation for Principal Ed Rooney as he is forced to ride the bus home with the students he despises. And his seatmate is the perfectly weird Girl on the Bus.
The Girl tries to be as friendly as she can be to the visibly scraped Rooney, but he is having none of it, even going as far as flicking the warm gummy bear she has generously shared with him down the bus. Her sweetness, no match for the bitter administrator.
The glasses given actress Polly Noonan to wear in this scene so distorted her vision that they made her sick and were so heavy they kept sliding down her nose, which can easily be seen in one of the shots of her. But Noonan, like the other supporting cast, is a pro and brings big things to her small role.
Chez Quis Maitre D’, played by Jonathan Schmock
The film’s ultimate lesson is you don’t tangle with Ferris Bueller. Principal Rooney finds this out the hardest way, but the Chez Quis Maitre D’ bears some brunt as well. No, Ferris does not look like Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago. And correctly, he isn’t. But Ferris is a master of telephone trickery and with accomplices Cameron and Sloan as able back-up, this front of houseman can’t stand in their way of a table at his upscale eatery.
Jonathan Schmock perfectly plays the snooty (or is it snotty?) Maitre D’ with a memorably comic performance. Schmock can be still seen playing the foil on various television shows but has also found much success as a TV comedy writer.
Garage Attendant, played by Richard Edson
This Garage Attendant is the last guy you’d want to leave a 1961 Ferrari 250GT with. And despite Cameron’s deep worry, they do. Hughes wanted someone who immediately looked suspicious and actor Richard Edson fit the bill to a tee.
Playing this pivotal role with the perfect amount of confidence and sleaze, Richard Edson takes us on a flying joy ride with minimal amount of screen time. We wouldn’t want to leave our luxury car with him, but we’d sure like to ride shotgun some time.
Grace, played by Edie McClurg
Playing school secretary Grace, Rooney’s only ally, McClurg’s performance is hands-down the funniest in the film with one quotable line after another. “Well, hello, Jeannie, who’s bothering you now?” is an unsung favorite of ours. And whether sniffing liquid paper with a soft uncontainable squeal or easily rattling off the hierarchy of the student body to the clueless principal, she makes her office a wonderland of magical moil and mischief.
McClurg was a pro at improv, but her screen partner, Jeffrey Jones as Rooney, was not. Many of the film’s scenes relied on this unscripted method, in particular much of the physical comedy that occurred in the school office. With McClurg’s seasoned guidance the two turned their off the cuff performances into one impressive example of a superior comedy duo.
It was director John Hughes’ love of performance and improv that allowed McClurg and her fellow castmates listed above to breathe extra life into their small roles to lift them off the screen as something uncommonly special. McClurg explained this in a Moviefone interview celebrating the actress on the film’s 25th anniversary: “[We] were those small parts which would be not small characters, you know what I mean? We’re memorable because he made us memorable.”
