Actor and star of Animal House

Born May 8, 1955;

Died: June 16, 2017

STEPHEN Furst, who has died of complications from diabetes aged 63, was an actor best known for playing the naive fraternity student Flounder in the hit movie Animal House. He was also Dr Elliot Axelrod in the popular 1980s medical drama St Elsewhere and the alien ambassador Vir Coto in the cult science fiction series Babylon 5.

Animal House, which was released in 1978, is about a group of young misfits who challenge the authority of the dean of their college. Directed by John Landis, it stars John Belushi and Donald Sutherland, with Furst playing Kent “Flounder” Dorfman. It was Belushi’s character, Blutarsky, who drew Flounder into a prank that went terribly wrong and ended up with the frantic Flounder shooting a gun loaded with blanks into a ceiling, frightening a horse so much that it died of a heart attack.

Furst was born in Newport News, Virginia, and after studying acting at Virginia Commonwealth University, famously landed the role of Flounder in the most creative way. He had moved to Los Angeles and was delivering pizzas while on the look-out for acting work. Using his initiative, he included a picture of himself in every pizza box and it was spotted by the producer of Animal House Matty Simmons who offered him a part in the film.

After Animal House, typecast by the film, Furst did struggle to find different roles in film, although he was a success as the sensitive Elliot in St Elsewhere, which ran from 1982 until 1988 and was a hit in the US and UK. From 1994, he was also a regular in Babylon 5 and its spin-off Crusade. He also directed several episodes of Babylon 5.

Later in his career, he voiced animated characters on projects including TV’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and the video The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. He also directed the 2006 film Game Day, which his son Griff produced; his other son Nathan composed the music.

Speaking about his father, Nathan said: “He was proudest of his family, and he felt blessed and incredibly privileged to have the career that he had and enjoyed." As a director and producer, Stephen Furst also ran a production company with son Griff, Curmudgeon Film, which produced the movies My Sister’s Keeper and Cold Moon, a suspense thriller due for release in October.

Furst lost both his parents to diabetes-related diseases when he was a teenager and struggled with his weight later in life. In the mid 1990s, he lost more than seven stone after being forced to have his foot amputated.

Stephen Furst died at his home in Moorpark, California, north of Los Angeles. His survivors include wife, Lorraine, and two grandchildren.