Why Farmer Fran From The Waterboy Looks So Familiar

Few actors dominated the '90s comedy movie scene quite like Adam Sandler. His star turns in films like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore (a favorite among Sandler's fans), and The Wedding Singer made him a cultural phenomenon and a major force as a box office star. There's also his memorable 1998 comedy, The Waterboy, which sees Sandler playing Bobby Boucher Jr, a spirited young man who works as the water boy for a college football team in the heart of Louisiana. While the movie is about Bobby's rise to prominence as a football player after Mister Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) realizes he has untapped talent, one of the main draws of the film is the vibrant cast of characters that fills out the world of the movie.

There's Kathy Bates as Bobby's overbearing mother; '90s teen sensation Fairuza Balk as his love interest, Vicki Vallencourt; and a slew of football players and sports commentators making cameos as themselves. The big names aside, there is also some incredible performance by character actors who you might not recognize by name, but you certainly will by their body of work. One of the best is stand-up comedian Blake Clark, who plays the energetic, but completely unintelligible Farmer Fran. If watching one of Sandler's more recent projects sent you back to his classics and you're wondering where else you've seen Clark before, here are some of his other notable roles.

The Waterboy was Clark's first major collaboration with Sandler, but it was far from his last. Since playing Farmer Fran, the comedian has gone on to have crowd-pleasing cameos in a number of Sandler's films. He was Satan's favorite assistant, Jimmy, in Little Nicky (which Netflix viewers were recently obsessed with), the father of a pro-football quarterback in Mr. Deeds, a wild west sheriff in The Ridiculous Six, Lucy's (Drew Barrymore) father in 50 First Dates, and more.

Clark even appeared in Sandler's 2020 Netflix original Hubie Halloween, about a kind but eccentric man named Hubie (Sandler) who must get to the bottom of a potentially deadly mystery in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. Clark plays Mr. Tayback, the cantankerous boss of Hubie's love interest Violet (Julie Bowen). It's a very small role, but one of the big draws of Hubie Halloween is its large ensemble cast. Like other Sandler movies, everyone from Kenan Thompson to Maya Rudolph is there to use their comedic chops to bring life to the larger-than-life townspeople of Salem. Clark's screen time may be brief, but he more than keeps up with the rest of them, and helps bring color to Hubie's world.

One of Clark's most memorable roles was as Chet Hunter, the estranged and neglectful father of Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) on teen sitcom Boy Meets World. Chet was known for his sporadic appearances in his son's life, which often left Shawn feeling abandoned and hurt. In the show's sixth season, he attempted to make amends with his son, but died suddenly of a heart attack while the two were having an argument about their relationship. But that didn't end Clark's run on the series. He returned in spectral form multiple times after Chet's death to bestow on his son the wisdom that he wasn't able to give him in life.

Chet's spirit returned once again in the revival series Girl Meets World. The episode "Girl Meets Hurricane" sees an adult Shawn struggling to figure out how to proceed with his feelings for single mom Katy (Cheryl Texiera). As he has done throughout his son's life, Chet's spirit arrives on the scene to give his son some fatherly advice. It's both a touching and funny moment for those who met the characters for the first time in the revival, and a heartwarming callback for those who had been fans of the series since the beginning.

Girl Meets World isn't the only TV show Clark has popped up on. He has a long career of appearing as a notable guest star on shows like Community, Everybody Hates Chris, and Home Improvement. One of his more recent roles was a very memorable and tragic turn on the Showtime original series SMILF. The series (which was later canceled due to allegations of abusive on-set behavior) saw writer, director, and showrunner Frankie Shaw starring as Bridgette Bird, a single mother living in South Boston trying to keep her head above water in the midst of her messy life. One of the most important people in Bridgette's life is her domineering mom, Tutu (Rosie O'Donnell). During the first season, we learn that Tutu left Bridgette's abusive father long ago and has been dating a man named Joe — who is played by Clark — who is living with chronic illness. Like everything in her life, Bridgette's relationship with Joe is complicated, but she makes do.

And that is just a small smattering of Blake Clark's career. Now that you know to look, you'll be spotting him in all kinds of movies and TV shows from the 1980s to present day.