Maryland-born character actor and voice-over legend Daniel Stern can look back on a career filled with accomplishments. In a very competitive industry, he has worked steadily in TV and film since 1979, not to mention countless radio commercials. His credits include such well-regarded films as City Slickers, Diner, and Breaking Away. The man narrated six seasons of The Wonder Years, for crying out loud. But, to much of the movie-watching world, Stern will always be Marv, the lanky, dimwitted burglar who lets out a scream for the ages when Macaulay Culkin places a tarantula on his face in 1990’s John Hughes-scripted Home Alone. If a video posted to Stern’s official (if underutilized) YouTube channel is any indication, the actor has come to peace with this legacy, if “come to peace” means that he still lets out a blood-curdling shriek at the very sight of a tarantula.
A minute-long clip tellingly titled “Home Alone Co-Star Resurfaces After 26 Years” shows Stern, in only shorts and sandals, revealing that the orange plastic bucket he is toting contains one seriously terrifying looking spider. Could this be the same arachnid from the movie? Probably not, even though some tarantulas have been known to live over 20 years in captivity. This eight-legged freak just seems to have been an uninvited interloper in Stern’s garage. After capturing it, Stern thought he’d get some social media mileage out of it as well.