May I Have 10,000 Marbles, Please?

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One of the classic movies of the late 70s is Animal House. It more or less began a new era of comedies in film. It's lewd, rude, crude, socially unacceptable, and if you haven't seen it you're on double secret probation!! Sadly, Stephen Furst, who played "Flounder" in that film, has died. Furst had other roles -- most notably, Dr. Axelrod on St. Elsewhere and Vir Cotto on Babylon 5 -- but his hilarious role as Kent Dorfman, nicknamed "Flounder" at his Delta frat induction, is unforgettable. "May I have 10,000 marbles, please?" It's one of the classic lines in a movie filled with classic lines ("Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"; "double secret probation"; "toga! toga!"; "Otis! My man!"; and one of my favorites, "fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life"). One of the great things about Animal House is that every performance was so terrific that it seems that the actors were born for those roles. Stephen Furst had diabetes, the complications of which took his life at the age of 63 on June 16. He used his celebrity to raise awareness about the disease, which he had from childhood but ignored until facing the possibility of losing a foot when he was 40. He lost over 100 pounds and did everything he could to help put the spotlight on the disease. His children wrote the following on his Facebook page upon announcing his death: To truly honor him, do not cry for the loss of Stephen Furst. But rather, enjoy memories of all the times he made you snicker, laugh, or even snort to your own embarrassment. He intensely believed that laugher is the best therapy...celebrate his life by watching one of his movies or use one of his bits to make someone else laugh - really, really hard. So go order 10,000 marbles for Flounder.