Paul Larsson

Character actor Paul Larsson enjoyed brief but memorable roles in a number of popular 1980s films. He made his acting debut in the 1980 political thriller "The Kidnapping of the President," about a Latin American revolutionary (Miguel Fernandes) and his misguided accomplice (Cindy Girling) who kidnap the commander-in-chief for political gain. Later that year Larsson was cast as college student Charlie Thomas in English director Ken Russell's adaptation of "Altered States," Paddy Chayefsky's sci-fi horror novel about a troubled psychology professor (William Hurt) whose experiments with sensory deprivation tanks and hallucinogens lead to him experiencing a drastically altered state of consciousness. Though the film was a critical success -- it earned two Oscar nominations -- Chayefsky was so distressed over the final product that he disavowed his participation in the project and had it credited to his pseudonym, Sydney Aaron. Larsson starred as a loudmouthed oil rig worker in "The Intruder Within," a made-for-TV thriller about a murderous alien who terrorizes a group of oil drillers after they mistakenly unearth it. He later appeared as a power-hungry warlord's mute bodyguard in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," the third installment of Mel Gibson's futuristic action trilogy about a troubled police officer roaming an empty nuclear wasteland.