When a Nice Guy Finishes First

Say goodby to Jeff Doucette, nice guy.

“I’ve played a few psychos over the years, but I’d never been in touch with real rage,” says the actor, who gives an astonishing performance as the gleeful, gun-toting Whitey Spurlock, a middle-aged loser gone berserk in Kevin Armold and Gus Buktenica’s ultra-profane, ultra-violent social comedy “Rage! Or, I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” in its fourth month at the Alliance Theatre in Burbank.

Doucette recalls the teacher telling him years ago in acting class that he needed to get in touch with his anger. “I came to the conclusion I wasn’t an angry person,” he says. “So I knew this part was going to be a challenge. It turned out it was just a matter of finding that anger--mostly in old relationships--where I’d felt hurt, deserted, let down, and had just sat on it.”

Before the sociopathic Whitey, Doucette’s roles were of a decidedly gentler nature: onstage, “Two Idiots in Hollywood,” “Gulls” and “Baron in the Trees,” and the TV series “Alien Nation” and “Newhart.” He sees his “Newhart” role of the perennially out-of-work Harley as the flip side of Whitey: “Likable, eager to please, aligning himself with people to feel good.”

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Doucette attended graduate school at Northern Illinois University, detouring to a series of odd jobs--including bartender and railroad brakeman--before moving to Chicago in 1975 and forming the duo comedy act, Jeff and Ernst. Two months later, the team was signed by William Morris and began touring the country with such acts as Barry Manilow and the Spinners.

Long retired from the nightclub scene, Doucette now finds his night life revolves around his wife, Kathy, and 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Molly, “a beautiful redhead who watches ‘The Little Mermaid’ as much as she can and kisses every kid she can. She’s the most agreeable kid I’ve ever known--like a little me.”