J.C. Quinn

J.C. Quinn (November 30, 1940 – February 10, 2004) was an American film and theatre actor. Quinn's career was marked by dozens of films from the 1970s onwards and hundreds of minor television appearances. Quinn was born in Philadelphia and studied acting in New York, spending seventeen years on stage before moving to Hollywood to act in films. With his rugged facial features and gravelly voice, J.C. Quinn was often mistaken for two better-known a... more

J.C. Quinn (November 30, 1940 – February 10, 2004) was an American film and theatre actor. Quinn's career was marked by dozens of films from the 1970s onwards and hundreds of minor television appearances. Quinn was born in Philadelphia and studied acting in New York, spending seventeen years on stage before moving to Hollywood to act in films. With his rugged facial features and gravelly voice, J.C. Quinn was often mistaken for two better-known actors, Harvey Keitel and Dick Miller, of whom he shared a physical resemblance to both. Quinn's most memorable role was that of the short order cook Elmo in the 1985 movie "Vision Quest" with Matthew Modine. Quinn gave a classic performance wherein the downtrodden Elmo gives his "That Six Minutes" speech (about the meaning all events have in the grand scheme of life), and singlehandedly inspires Modine's character, Louden Swain, to pursue his Vision Quest (a result Elmo never knew). Quinn's television credits include appearing on Cagney and... less