It’s been thirty-five years since movie audiences were given “20 seconds to comply” with RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven’s dystopian sci-fi skewering of corporate America. The hyper-violent futuristic action film was a trojan horse for Reagan-era social satire and a takedown of trickle-down economics that proved to be a surprise breakout hit, earning over $53 million at the box office and generating a franchise that included two sequels, multiple TV series, and a 2014 reboot.
The film assembled a cast of rising stars and veteran character actors to tell the tale of RoboCop, aka Detroit police officer Alex Murphy, killed in the line of duty and then resurrected as an armored cyborg with no apparent memories of his past, sworn to serve the department, and also — unknown to him or the citizens he serves — programmed for absolute loyalty to his corporate masters.
To celebrate the anniversary of the often-brutal masterwork here’s a look at what the cast has been up to in the intervening decades.
Peter Weller (Alex Murphy/RoboCop)
Weller began his acting career in the late 1970s but until RoboCop he was most known for his appearance as the title character in the quirky cult favorite The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Weller would go on to reprise the role of RoboCop in the first sequel and would go on to appear in art-house fare such as Mighty Aphrodite and Naked Lunch. But he spent a good portion of his post-RoboCop career pursuing his passion for art.
In 2004, Weller completed his master’s degree in Roman and Renaissance Art at Syracuse University. He taught courses in ancient history while pursuing the degree. Weller was awarded his doctorate in Italian Renaissance Art History in 2014.
Weller has gone on to become a television director. His credits include Sons of Anarchy, Magnum P.I., and Mayans MC.
Nancy Allen (Anne Lewis)
Allen was already known for her collaborations with her former husband Brian DePalma, including Carrie, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out prior to appearing in RoboCop. Allen would play Officer Lewis in both of RoboCop‘s sequels and would continue acting throughout the next two decades until a tragedy reshaped her career path.
In 2005, Allen’s friend, comedic actor Wendie Jo Sperber — with whom she co-starred in the Robert Zemeckis film I Wanna Hold Your Hand — died of breast cancer. Three years later Allen made the decision to shift away from acting and into caregiving for cancer patients and their families. In 2010 she was named executive director of the weSPARK Cancer Support Center, an institution founded by Sperber before her death. In a 2011 interview with Media Mikes‘ Mike Smith, Allen stated, “That is what my life is dedicated to. I’m there, I run it. I’ve created the whole program format and I fundraise. It is my life’s work.”
Ronny Cox (Dick Jones)
Character actor Ronny Cox may arguably be the most famous actor to join the cast of RoboCop. Cox was already well known for his role as Drew Ballinger in 1970’s Deliverance and had struck gold with ’80s audiences for playing Beverly Hills Police Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil in Beverly Hills Cop, a role he would repeat in the sequel that came out the same year as RoboCop.
Cox has remained a successful and in-demand actor all these years. He went on to portray another classic sci-fi villain in Total Recall and has gone on to appear in at least one movie or TV appearance nearly every year since. Cox most recently appeared in last year’s Being the Ricardos but dedicates most of his time to playing and performing music now. He told The Wichita Eagle in 2012 that he turns down “90 percent” of the roles he’s offered every year in order to play with his band on the road.
Kurtwood Smith (Clarence Boddicker)
Smith’s portrayal of the psychopathic Clarence made him an audience favorite and launched his movie career as a reliable heavy, a type he played often in the decade after RoboCop‘s release. However, Smith’s choice of parts extended broadly following his tenure on That 70s Show where he proved his formidable comic chops week after week as Red Forman, the father to series protagonist Eric.
Smith continues to be cast in a variety of film and television roles and is also an in-demand voice actor, appearing in multiple DC comic properties as well as Adult Swim titles such as Robot Chicken and Rick and Morty. Beginning later this year, he’ll reprise his role as Red in the spin-off project That 90s Show, which will stream on Netflix.
Miguel Ferrer (Bob Morton)
As the ruthless Bob Morton, Ferrer embodied all the sociopathy of unfettered greed that characterized the worst of the ’80s – perhaps even better than Gordon Gekko in Wall Street released the same year. Although Ferrer and both Ferrer’s parents — Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney — had successful showbiz careers, Ferrer almost seemed to accidentally fall into acting, having pursued careers as a drummer and a comic book writer before being cast in small roles by friends. He had appeared in the under-the-radar Flashpoint alongside Kurtwood Smith before RoboCop established his film career.
Ferrer gained further cult favorite fame for his role as irascible FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield on David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. He went on to regularly appear in film and television, including regular roles as Dr. Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan and NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger on NCIS: Los Angeles. Ferrer also performed as a voice actor and was featured playing multiple roles in various DC and Marvel animated shows and films. He also played Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3 in the MCU.
Tragically, Ferrer passed away from throat cancer at the age of 61 in 2017.