What Made Randy and Evi Quaid Lose Their Shit?

Eventually, the Quaids came back to California, finally showed up for court in California, accessorized with pink handcuffs and credit cards as head gear, and got off pretty easy for their “defrauding an innkeeper” charge: nothing on Randy, and community service for Evi. But then they started suing people, and squatting in their old house, and finally got busted for squatting and ruining another house they once owned. The authorities trying to take away their dog was the last straw: Evi got arrested over that.

And then they went to Canada, and are now hiding from the STAR-WHACKERS.

As the Post reports, some people believe Randy started acting strangely when he was acting in Lone Star Love, a play staged in Seattle. Bothered by his behavior, Quaid’s cast mates filed a complaint with the Actors’ Equity Association (a union for stage actors and crew) accusing him of abuse, and Quaid ended up being fined and banned from the Association for life. Meanwhile, Evi had hired a detective to investigate Randy’s cast mates. Pretty paranoid.

The Quaids’ story is super-sad, but kind of common in Hollywood history. Remember when actress Anne Heche was discovered in Fresno, California, wearing little clothing and talking about God and the magic spaceship? Or everything that Lindsay Lohan has done since about 2006? If you would like more examples, here are some lists, covering everything from Mel Gibson’s angry phone rants to Oksana Grigorieva to Charlie Sheen’s terrible temper tantrums.

Indeed, the human ego can be a fragile thing—and for celebrities, who live under constant public scrutiny, the pressure can be overwhelming. But trying to stay inside the spotlight, comes with its own stressors, because what if you don’t succeed? Randy Quaid is 60, and made his career playing what the Post calls “laughable, comedic roles.” That kind of niche gets harder to pull off as you age. Compound that with money troubles and public humiliation like the Actors’ Equity Association censure, and you have a recipe for disaster—or so it appears in this case.

Maybe the Quaids are afraid of the “whackers” because, subconsciously, they’re actually more afraid that they’re no longer important enough to be whacked? Once an Oscar winner, Quaid has become a pariah in some of his professional circles; claiming to be the target of a vast conspiracy gains him both sympathy and media coverage, and also takes some of the pressure off Evi—who seems to be more of a troublemaker than he is, though who can really be sure.

At least in all their current difficulties, there’s a sliver of good news: Duane Chapman, aka “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” says he’s not going to Canada to retrieve the Quaids. But he would like to talk to them, of course.

What the hell happened to Randy Quaid?” [NY Post]