Courting Disaster: What Went Wrong With Randy Quaid

Is there an explanation for the renegade behavior of the actor and his wife?

ByABC News
October 20, 2010, 3:03 AM

Oct. 20, 2010— -- "Lights, camera, action!" is music to the ears of movie actors. Unfortunately, the same phrase also works well when those celebrities get asked to pose for mug shots.

Actor Randy Quaid -- the older brother of actor Dennis Quaid -- and Randy's wife, Evi, have matched sets of police-station photos. But the public may know them best, not for their legal transgressions but for their habit of not showing up in court when the law summons them.

Their latest bad?

The Associated Press reported Monday that a judge issued two $50,000 arrest warrants for the Quaids, who were no-shows at a court hearing related to their arrests last month on suspicion that they illegally squatted at the guest house of a Montecito home they once owned. Each Quaid faces a felony vandalism charge.

Santa Barbara Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter told ABCNews.com, "At the moment, the district attorney's office has no information as to their whereabouts."

How did Quaid go from popular character actor to someone who takes up residence in someone else's house?

According to a November 2009 People magazine article, published about six weeks after the Quaids were arrested in Texas "for allegedly running out on a $10,000 hotel bill at the exclusive San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California," friends of the couple pinpointed an event that initiated the downward spiral.

"Friends believe the Quaids' downward spin began after a dispute with the Actors' Equity Association," reported People. At the time, Quaid was starring in the musical "Lone Star Love" in Seattle.

"In October 2007, 23 AEA members filed complaints with the organization, claiming Randy was exhibiting oddball behavior and missing rehearsals. He was subsequently banned from the organization," reported People.

The article noted that the couple had hired Becky Altringer, a private investigator to investigate the actors who made complaints about them. Altringer told People, "After that, [Evi] flipped. That's when she started saying everyone was against them, and now she's saying I'm against them." Altringer is reportedly suing the couple for breach of contract to recoup $19,000 she says she's owed.