‘Revenge of the Nerds’: Where Are They Now & Which Nerd Is Part of a Hollywood Acting Dynasty?

Lauren Novak January 16, 1:50 pm

It has been over 40 years since our bumbling and lovable nerds vowed to end “nerd persecution” and change things up at Adams College in Revenge of the Nerds. Fans ate up the classic group of outcasts against the popular jocks storyline, and the film led to three sequels: Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation, and Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love.

Have you ever wondered what your favorite nerds are doing now, and what they look like 40 years later? Let’s find out!

Robert Carradine

Lewis Skolnick

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

My fellow Millennials will know Carradine as Lizzie McGuire’s dad from the early 2000s, but those older may remember Revenge of the Nerds being a breakout role for the star. He easily slipped into Hollywood because of his famous father John Carradine, brother Keith Carradine and half-brother David Carradine. After the ‘80s, not only did he star in Lizzie McGuire (the show and the movie!) but also Tommyknockers, Monte Walsh, Escape From L.A., and Django Unchained, and, more recently, in 2020, he reunited with the cast of Lizzie McGuire to play Sam McGuire once more. In 2024, he starred as Bart in the Western The Night They Came Home.

Carradine has three children with his ex-wife Edie Mani, including actress Ever Carradine.

Fun fact: His very first credited role was in an episode of Bonanza.

Anthony Edwards

Gilbert Lowe

Everett Collection; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Besides Revenge of the Nerds, you might recognize Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene in ER or from his roles as Goose in Top Gun and Inspector William Armstrong in Zodiac. In recent years, he made his Broadway musical debut in Girl From the North Country and appeared in the 2024 Broadway production of Prayer for the French Republic. In addition to acting, he has also helped direct several episodes of ER and the film Charlie’s Ghost Story. Edwards is still a busy actor on the small screen, appearing in recent projects such as Netflix’s Inventing Anna, AppleTV’s WeCrashed, and AMC’s Tales of the Walking Dead.

He has been married to Mare Winningham since 2021, but shares four children with his ex-wife Jeanine Lobell. He also cofounded the nonprofit organization Shoe4Africa, helping provide healthcare and education to African children.

Curtis Armstrong

Dudley “Booger” Dawson

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection; Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Armstrong’s breakout role was in Risky Business, but many remember him as Booger in Revenge of the Nerds. He later appeared in cult hit Better Off Dead, Moonlighting, Supernatural, New Girl, Wizards of Waverly Place, Ray, Akeelah and the Bee, and numerous others. Armstrong is also a talented voice actor, known for the show American Dad! Armstrong wrote about his acting experiences in his 2017 memoir titled Revenge of the Nerd: Or … The Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger.

One of his more recent roles was appearing in the show Doom Patrol and voicing Mr. Crummyham in Monsters at Work. Armstrong is married to Elaine Aronson and has one daughter named Lily.

Julia Montgomery

Betty Childs

Everett Collection; Instagram

Montgomery played the sorority girl stereotype to perfection. After her role as Betty, she appeared in a few of the Nerd sequels as well as television shows, including Cheers, Full House, Columbo and Who’s the Boss? Her most recent role was in an episode of The Young and the Restless.

She has been married to Jon Reede since 1996, and they have two children. In addition to acting, she has tried her hand at behind-the-scenes work as a producer.

Brian Tochi

Takashi Tohiro

REVENGE OF THE NERDS Brian Tochi; TM & Copyright © 20th Century Fox Film Corp; Actors Brian Tochi (L), Marion Ramsey and Kathryn Graf pose at the world premiere of the one-woman play "Surviving David", starring Kathryn Graf, at 2100 Square Feet on August 20, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Tochi had been working in Hollywood since he was a child, appearing in classic shows such as Star Trek and The Brady Bunch. He also starred in the series, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, prior to Revenge of the Nerds. After portraying Takashi, he went on to appear as Cadet Nogata in the Police Academy films, Space Academy, NYPD Blue, and more.

Tochi found massive success as a voice actor, working on films and shows such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Lion King, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Family Guy, and World of Warcraft.

Larry B. Scott

Lamar Latrelle

20th Century Fox Film Corp.; Bobby Bank/Getty Images

Scott played the openly gay Tri-Lamb member Lamar and appeared in all three Revenge of the Nerds sequels. He also appeared in The Karate Kid, SpaceCamp, Iron Eagle, The Jeffersons, Seinfeld, St. Elsewhere, Martin, and more. He now operates the acting studio.

Andrew Cassese

Harold Wormser

20th Century Fox Film Corp.; Bobby Bank/Getty Images

We can’t forget about the youngest Tri-Lamb Wormser. He was just 12 years old when he played a college kid and went on to star in several theater shows and got a degree from the NYU film school in 1995. He starred as Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen in the Philadelphia Theatre Company premiere of Nerds://A Musical Software Satire. While he stays out of the spotlight these days, he has occasionally been seen at some Comic-Con events with his Revenge of the Nerds costars.

Timothy Busfield

Arnold Poindexter

Busfield stayed busy after Revenge of the Nerds and has appeared in films and television shows such as Field of Dreams, The West Wing, and Sleepy Hollow. He also became a successful director, directing shows such as Without a Trace and The Night Shift. He also won an Emmy for his work on thirtysomething. He married Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, and they moved to upstate New York.

In 2026, Busfield was accused of child abuse and sexual misconduct charges. Prosecutors alleged he inappropriately touched two brothers while working on the set of the TV series The Cleaning Lady in Albuquerque between 2022 and 2024. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and Busfield turned himself in to the authorities.

Michelle Meyrink

Judy

20th Century Fox Film Corp.

In the ’80s, Meyrink appeared in many iconic films of the era, including Valley Girl, Real Genius, and The Outsiders, with her final role in the 1988 film Permanent Record. She quit acting and briefly lived in the Dominican Republic. She later returned to Vancouver and, in 2013, started her own acting school named Actorium.

Meyrink and her family were the focus of a 2004 episode of Quiet Mind about their Zen Buddhism practices. She is married to John Dumbrille, and they have three kids.

John Goodman

Coach Harris

Everett Collection and Jake Giles Netter/Max/Everett Collection

John Goodman was still on the rise when he appeared as the antagonistic Coach Harris in Revenge of the Nerds, but his career quickly took off. In the years that followed, he established himself as one of Hollywood’s most dependable actors, starring in Coen Brothers favorites such as Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, as well as prestige films including Argo, crowd pleasers such as The Flintstones, and the tense survival thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane. On television, he became a familiar presence through Roseanne and its follow-up series The Conners, while also earning a new generation of fans as the voice of Sulley in Pixar’s Monsters Inc. franchise.

Goodman remains highly active today. He continues to voice Sulley in the animated series Monsters at Work, stars in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, and appears in Apple TV Plus’s Legacy of Monsters. Forty years after barking orders at college pledges, he is still one of the busiest and most versatile actors working.

Goodman has been married to Annabeth Hartzog since 1989, and they have one daughter.

Ted McGinley

Stan Gable

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection and Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Lifetime

McGinley played the villain, jock quarterback Stan, who stole the housing from the nerds, humiliated them, and became their top rival in the series. McGinley also appeared in Married… With Children, Happy Days, Dynasty, The Love Boat, and more. He recently starred in The Baxtersand is making waves on AppleTV’s hit show Shrinking.

Over the years, he was noticed for being “the patron saint of shark-jumping,” as he often replaced a departing cast member in the later years of a show.

He married Gigi Rice in 1991, and they have two sons.

Donald Gibb

Fred “The Ogre” Palowakski

20th Century Fox Film Corp.; Instagram

Gibb started out playing professional football for the San Diego Chargers, but when his NFL career didn’t pan out, he turned to acting. After Revenge of the Nerds, he appeared in Hancock, The X-Files, Weird Science, Boy Meets World, and more. Recently, he has worked as the co-owner and spokesman for the bar Trader Todd’s in Chicago and markets “Ogre beer,” paying homage to his character.

James Cromwell

Mr. Skolnick

Screen Grab; Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

Many also know Cromwell from the ’90s movie Babe, but many may not know that he became vegan while playing the role of Farmer Hoggett. He is an animal activist and was named PETA’s Person of the Year in 2022. In 2023, he helped rehome a pig that was going to be slaughtered and named it Babe. In the acting world, he has been pretty successful. He earned several award nominations and won an Emmy for his role in American Horror Story: Asylum, and was nominated for Six Feet Under and Succession. He has also appeared in The Green Mile, I, Robot, Spider-Man 3 and Rebel Ridge. and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Recently, he voiced Alfred in the hit cartoon Bat-Fam, and starred in AppleTV’s Sugar as well as Fox’s Murder in a Small Town.

He has been married to Anna Stuart since 2014 and has three children with his first wife Ann Ulvestad.

Fun fact: At 6’7″, he is the tallest actor nominated for an Academy Award.

David Wohl

Dean Ulich

Mario Casilli/TV Guide/Fox Network/Everett Collection and Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Wohl went on to appear in big films such as Saving Private Ryan and Rear Window. Wohl has also appeared on Broadway and smaller theater shows, proving that he is a well-rounded talent. He most recently appeared in the television show Bull.

Bernie Casey (d. 2017)

U.N. Jefferson

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection and Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Sadly, there is one cast member we have since lost. Casey died in September 2017 after suffering from a stroke at the age of 78. Before his death, he starred in many blaxploitation films as well as Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and his final film role was in 2007’s Vegas Vampires.