Peter Van Norden obit

Peter Van Norden Dies: ‘Police Academy 2’ & ‘The Naked Gun 2½’ Actor Was 75

 He was not on the list.

Peter Van Norden, the actor who appeared in Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment and The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, has died. He was 75.

The actor’s wife Wendy was by his side as he died peacefully Thursday morning in a Southern California hospice facility, where he was struggling with multiple health conditions, according to TMZ.

Born December 16, 1950 in New York City, Van Norden graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University in Upstate NY before moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s, making his onscreen debut in the Lloyd Kaufman-helmed ’79 comedy Squeeze Play!.

Van Norden later appeared in the Troma Entertainment founder’s 1981 comedy Waitress!, also starring in films like Headin’ for Broadway! (1980), Hard to Hold (1984), Roadhouse 66 (1984), The Accused (1988) and Gigli (2003).

In 1985, he joined the Police Academy franchise with the second installment, playing Officer Vinnie Schtulman. Van Norden later played George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff John H. Sununu in The Naked Gun 2½ (1991).

On TV, Van Norden appeared in shows like Cheers, TJ Hooker, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties, Hill Street Blues, Newhart, Matlock, LA Law, The Stand, Tales from the Crypt, Murder She Wrote, Nash Bridges, Family Matters, ER, Days of Our Lives and 9-1-1.

Van Norden is survived by wife Wendy and son Robert.

 

Filmography

           

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2026)

Film

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1979    Squeeze Play!  Beauty Parlor Manager          

1980    Headin' for Broadway Auditioner      

1981    Waitress!          Policeman       

1984    Hard to Hold   Casserole        

Roadhouse 66 Moss   

1985    Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment    Officer Vinnie Schtulman      

1988    The Accused   Paulsen           

1991    The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear          John Sununu  

2003    Gigli    Morgue Attendant      

Television

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1982    Cheers Cymbals Player           Episode: "Friends, Romans, and Accountants"

1982–1983      St. Elsewhere  Patient / Bill Fulkerson           2 episodes

1982    T. J. Hooker    Lenny  Episode: "Thieves' Highway"

1983    Malibu Bumbo TV movie

Blood Feud     Pierre Salinger

1985    Three's a Crowd          Herbert Potts   Episode: "A Friend in Deed"

Silver Spoons  Larry   Episode: "All the Principal's Men"

Family Ties     Janitor  Episode: "The Real Thing: Part 2"

1989–1996      Murder, She Wrote      Henryk Stuyvesant / Dr. Sid Lantz / CIA Agt. Dennis Quinlan         3 episodes

1990    In the Heat of the Night          Sgt. D'Agostino           2 episodes

1991    Matlock           Nick Saddler   Episode: "The Suspect"

1994    The Stand        Ralph Brentner            Miniseries; 4 episodes