---
name: "Brian Backer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/brian-backer"
fi1m_id: "brian-backer"
imdb_id: "nm0045637"
tmdb_id: 118946
wikidata_id: "Q4963017"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "5 December 1956"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 53
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-04T19:59:50.424453+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Brian Backer

## Identity

Brian Backer

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/brian-backer
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** brian-backer
- **IMDb ID:** nm0045637
- **TMDB ID:** 118946
- **Wikidata ID:** Q4963017
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Backer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4963017, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0045637/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/118946

Actor. Born 5 December 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 5 December 1956, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1982–1987
- **Average Fi1m score:** 53, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Romance 2, Crime 1, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $159m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Backer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4963017, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0045637/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/118946

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*Fast Times at Ridgemont High*](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Brian Backer (born 5 December 1956) is an American actor. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his role as the shy teenager Mark 'Rat' Ratner in the 1982 film *Fast Times at Ridgemont High*.

Backer won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and the Theatre World Award for his performance in Woody Allen's *The Floating Light Bulb* (1981). His other film credits include *The Burning* (1981), *Moving Violations* (1985), *The Money Pit* (1986), *Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol* (1987), *Loser* (2000) and *Vamps* (2012). On television he appeared in the soap opera *Santa Barbara* (1990–1991) and guest roles in series such as *Charles in Charge* and *Growing Pains*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, ibdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol* (1987), Fi1m 36, as Arnie — [page](https://film.one/film/police-academy-4-citizens-on-patrol.md)
- *The Money Pit* (1986), Fi1m 54, as Ethan — [page](https://film.one/film/the-money-pit.md)
- *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), Fi1m 70, as Mark "Rat" Ratner — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md)

## Complete filmography (13)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Vamps* (2012), as Middle-Aged Guy / Dentist
- *Loser* (2000), as Doctor
- *Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1999), Actor
- *A Clown in Babylon* (1999), as Blake
- *Steel and Lace* (1991), as Norman
- *Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson* (1989), as Eugene
- *Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol* (1987), as Arnie — Fi1m 36, [page](https://film.one/film/police-academy-4-citizens-on-patrol.md)
- *The Money Pit* (1986), as Ethan — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/the-money-pit.md)
- *Moving Violations* (1985), as Scott Greeber
- *Charles in Charge* (1984), series, as Leonard Burley
- *Talk to Me* (1984), as Salesman
- *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), as Mark "Rat" Ratner — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md)
- *The Burning* (1981), as Alfred

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Theatre World Award 1981: Theatre World Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play 1981: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/brian-backer