Biography

Erland van Lidth

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Born in the Netherlands, he came to the United States as a child in the late 1950s. Erland grew up in Orange, New Jersey; Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he distinguished himself as a member of the wrestling team and in student theatre productions while also becoming a teaching assistant while still an undergraduate. After graduation he moved to New York City, working in the field of computers, and pursued amateur wrestling, going to the 1976 Montreal Olympics as the heavyweight alternate and being the hopeful for the 1980 Moscow Olympics (which the US did not ultimately attend). However, when a casting director for The Wanderers (1979) showed up at the New York Athletic Club, Erland was discovered and cast as "Terror."

Erland continued to work in computers (ultimately starting his own company), fitting in his movie shoots as well as his studies toward an operatic career. Originally a bass-baritone, he appeared many times at the well-known Amato Opera in New York and eventually worked his way into the Heldenbaritone repertoire. He was survived by his son, his wife, his mother (since deceased), his brother Philip van Lidth de Jeude (also an opera singer and film actor), and his sister Philine (also an opera singer [ret], photographer & artist.
- IMDb mini biography by: Philine van Lidth de Jeude and Philip van Lidth de Jeude

Was a teacher in the late 1970s-early 1980s at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College) in NYC, teaching English.
In Stir Crazy (1980), a camera close-up clearly shows Erland's MIT class ring during the prison kitchen scene.
His actual voice wasn't used for the song, "Down in the Valley", in the film. Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike in 1980, he wasn't able to record the song himself, so they used the pre-recorded track to which he had sung the song during the filming in the final print of the movie.
Younger brother of Philip van Lidth de Jeude, members of the Dutch noble family Van Lidth de Jeude.

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