Erik Stolhanske (born August 23, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and a member of the

Broken Lizard Broken Lizard is an American comedy troupe that comprises Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan (actor), Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. They collaborate on the screen-writing, acting and productions of their films, wi ...

comedy group. He is best known as “Officer Rabbit” from the cult-classic comedy ''

Super Troopers ''Super Troopers'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by and starring the Broken Lizard comedy group (Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske). Marisa Coughlan, Da ...

'' (2001) and its sequel, '' Super Troopers 2'' (2018). As one of the five principal members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, he has starred in all of the group's films, including ''

Beerfest ''Beerfest'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by the comedy group Broken Lizard (Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan (actor), Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske), who also star in th ...

'' (2006), '' The Slammin' Salmon'' (2009), ''

Club Dread ''Club Dread'' (also known as ''Broken Lizard's Club Dread'') is a 2004 comedy slasher film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by and starring the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter ...

'' (2004), and ''

Puddle Cruiser ''Puddle Cruiser'' is a 1996 American comedy film, the first full-length film created by the Broken Lizard comedy group. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie was filmed entirely on the campus of Colgate University, the alma mate ...

'' (1996). Additionally, he has made cameo appearances in '' The Sweetest Thing'' (2002) and ''

The Onion Movie ''The Onion Movie'' (released in some countries as ''News Movie'') is a 2008 satirical American comedy film written by ''The Onion'' writers Robert D. Siegel and Todd Hanson. It was filmed in 2003 and released on June 3, 2008, direct-to-video. ...

'' (2008). On television, Stolhanske has appeared in HBO’s critically acclaimed series ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'' and ''Six Feet Under'', as well as in the Comedy Central special '' Broken Lizard Stands Up''. The Broken Lizard Group continues to develop new projects, including the much-anticipated ''Super Troopers 3'' and ''Quasi'', which was released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on April 20, 2023.

Early life

Stolhanske was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota, and has a multicultural background of Swedish, Norwegian, and Native American descent. He attended

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. After college, Stolhanske moved to New York City, where he studied acting at the

William Esper Studio The William Esper Studio was founded in 1965 as a school for the performing arts in Manhattan, New York. The school is dedicated to the acting technique of Sanford Meisner. Its founder, William "Bill" Esper, is occasionally referred to as the bes ...

and trained under

Wynn Handman Wynn Handman (May 19, 1922 – April 11, 2020) was the artistic director of The American Place Theatre, which he co-founded with Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan in 1963. His role in the theatre was to seek out, encourage, train, and present ...

The American Place Theatre The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, 423 West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tenness ...

Career

Stolhanske has written, produced, and starred in all of the

comedies, including the upcoming ''Super Troopers 3''. He has collaborated with notable actors such as

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

Monique Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

, Brian Cox,

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...

, and

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Prime ...

. He is also known for working alongside comedians such as

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

Will Forte Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a cast member and writer on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons from 2002 to 2010. During his time on ...

, and

Johnny Knoxville Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (franchise), ...

. Additionally, he has co-written

screenplays A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...

, including one with NFL star

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A five-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro selection, he recorded 136 car ...

of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. An avid sports fan, Stolhanske is an occasional guest on KFAN Minnesota Sports Radio Station's top rated morning show ''The Power Trip''.

Film

The Broken Lizard Group wrote and starred in the comedy short ''The Tinfoil Monkey Agenda''. Their first full-length film, ''

'' (1996), premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize for Best Film, and later screened at

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

, and the

London International Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

. Their breakthrough film, ''

'' (2001), premiered at Sundance and earned a distribution deal with

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

. This success was followed by ''

'' (2004), ''

'' (2006), and '' The Slammin’ Salmon'' (2009). Stolhanske also starred in the independent comedy ''RockBarnes: The Emperor in You'' (2013), for which he won "Best Performance" at the

Orlando Film Festival The Orlando Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Orlando, Florida, for independent filmmakers to showcase their work. The festival attracts upwards of 300 entries from filmmakers in more than 30 countries every year. The festival cul ...

Television

On television, Stolhanske appeared in HBO’s ''

'' as “Sven Johnson” in the episode ''The 5 Wood'' and in '' Six Feet Under'' in the episode ''In Place of Anger''. He also starred in the Comedy Central special ''Broken Lizard Stands Up''.

Keynote speaking

In addition to his acting career, Stolhanske travels the country delivering keynote speeches to corporations, colleges, and veterans’ groups. He shares his story of overcoming adversity, having been born without a

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

and using a prosthetic leg. He volunteers with the Disabled Veterans of America and has been featured in the exercise program

P90X P9 or P-9 may refer to: * Planet Nine, a hypothetical new planet in the far outer solar system * Boeing XP-9, a prototype fighter aircraft from the 1930s * Heckler & Koch P9, a semi-automatic pistol * Springfield Armory P9, a semi-automatic pistol * ...

, surprising fans with his physical achievements.

Charitable work

Stolhanske is an advocate for disabled veterans, collaborating with organizations like the

Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, ...

to mentor and support veterans reintegrating into civilian life. Along with his wife, he supports VetPaw, a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

founded by U.S. military veterans to combat illegal

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

in Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stolhanske, Erik Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Colgate University alumni Male actors from Minneapolis Writers from Minneapolis American producers William Esper Studio alumni American people of Swedish descent American people of Norwegian descent American people of Native American descent *