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SHOWBIZ 7’s: A TV villain’s favorite ‘80s movie villains

‘Smallville’s’ Michael Rosenbaum plays comic book baddie Lex Luthor, but his villainous tastes are all over the map.

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Times Staff Writer
Michael Rosenbaum plays Lex Luther on the television show "Smallville," a bad guy character he describes as "maniacal genius weird." This is to differentiate between the bad guy he will play in the Jamie Kennedy vehicle "Kickin' It Old Skool," a character he describes as "a jerkwad."

Rosenbaum said he does not always play bad guys. "Let's see, I played a transvestite in one movie, gay in another movie, an (expletive) fraternity guy who had to dress in drag in another movie," he said, "and I was Steve Martin's nemesis in 'Bringing Down Da House.'"

Before I let him tell you who his seven favorite 80s villains (appropriate since "Kickin' It Old Skool" is about the 80s), I'll mention that Mr. Rosenbaum longs for the day when he can grow his hair out again. "Next season is my last season (on 'Smallville')," he said. "I think I'm going to get the words 'NEVER AGAIN' tattooed across the top of my head and let my hair grow like wildfire."

And now for the villains:
  1. Johnny Lawrence from "The Karate Kid." "He was just the quintessential ass-villain. He was just a villainous-ass."

  2. Clubber Lang from "Rocky III." "He killed Mickey for God sakes. He killed Mickey! You don't do that."

  3. Chet Donnelly from "Weird Science." "He was a complete boner. He had that ridiculous life and he made you want to punch him in the face whenever you saw him."

  4. Ming the Merciless from "Flash Gordon." "He had green blood for God sakes!"

  5. Stan Gabel from "Revenge of the Nerds." "You just hated him. Throughout history that movie has shown you can't mess with nerds. You can't torment people and you can't be the bully and Stan Gabel was the ultimate bully. His name just depicts ass."

  6. Jack Torn from "The Shining." "Here's Johnny! He was one of the biggest villains ever. That was awesome, except he was possessed."

  7. Darth Vader from "The Empire Strikes Back." "He cut off his own son's hand!"
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