It’s easy to think that you might forget about Marion Ramsey unless you were to hear her reenact her most iconic role of Hooks from Police Academy since her career didn’t really turn up after the popular series came to an end. Still, it’s fun to remember her soft-spoken manner right up until she had to bust out with “Don’t move, dirtbag!”. If you remember Police Academy then you remember her classic performance since she was the kind and very easily looked-over individual that didn’t have much to say until someone really got under her skin. Back in those days however she filled a very important niche in the movies since she took on a part that none of the others could have possibly handled given their massive personalities and in some cases their very stature. Imagine Hightower, played by Bubba Smith, being the soft-spoken and mousy one? Nope, Marion was by far and large the only person on the cast that could have possibly pulled this off, and she did it beautifully. What’s kind of tragic is that if one mentions the title Police Academy to people these days some folks might think that you’re talking about a literal academy in the real world or a possibly new movie coming out. What’s happened to folks? Don’t they remember the classics?
Apparently she even wore a fat suit for the part of Hooks, as she was much slimmer than her character and the idea was to watch her get thinner with each movie. For one reason or another that idea was abandoned, though it didn’t really appear to matter since people liked Hooks all the same since her calm and quiet manner was often thrust aside when she got good and mad. In real life though her voice is far more commanding and she has no problem letting people know what she’s thinking, which makes it even greater to think that she played such a role in the past. It does make a person wonder though just how many times she really wanted to bust out and tell people what was on her mind during filming, or if she was as professional as she could be when playing the role, thinking that she’d have her turn to talk all she wanted when the cameras were off. It’d be great if there was behind the scenes footage of the Police Academy movies just to see that kind of occurrence.
As to what she’s been up to since those days she’s continued to act, though as I mentioned it might be a little tough for people to find her most recent movies unless they know where to look and are interested. Like so many from the 80s Marion’s career continued in a strong enough manner to keep her in the game and keep her busy, but it didn’t reach into the blockbuster range as she might have wanted. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence to be fair since a lot of people from those movies, even the most popular among them, have been seen to drop off and kind of fade away after a while, taking on smaller and smaller roles until they’ve become bit-players that are still screen legends but are only revered by those that remember their movies. Think about the likes of Bubba Smith, who had an NFL career before he became an actor, Steve Guttenberg, Mike Winslow, and even Bobcat Goldthwait, who would eventually give up on his character of Zed since he didn’t want to do the act any longer. Once Police Academy was over and done with, a lot of careers kind of went down a very uncertain if fairly steady road that might have led to full-on obscurity but thankfully hasn’t ended in oblivion. Let’s just say that with a little prompting most people will remember who Marion and the rest of the cast are at this point. Those of us that grew up with them however find it harder to forget some of the best moments.
Yes I could obsess about Police Academy all day and it’s largely because this is where I remember her from and where I have the most memories of Marion from, as it was and still is the best role she’s ever performed given that it was the complete opposite of who she is in many ways. That kind of role takes an actor that isn’t shy about taking on something that might be daunting but could also be a role that people will remember them for in the years to come. The one thing that I’ve been pushing lately is that a good actor is someone that doesn’t make people remember, but will prompt a memory from a time in a person’s past that they’ll recall with some hint of emotion. That’s the mark of a great actor, not a shiny statue.
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