Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, are seeking asylum in Canada from what they are calling the “Hollywood Star Whackers.” The Quaids have been finding themselves in a lot of trouble lately here in the United States. They have missed multiple court hearings related to felony vandalism charges in Santa Barbara. Their issues first came to light earlier this year, when the Quaids were charged with defrauding an innkeeper. Evi Quaid pleaded no contest to this misdemeanor, and the charges against Randy were dropped.

According to the New York Post, Randy’s bizarre behavior began when he was fired from “Lone Star Love,” a 2008 Seattle play that is an Americanized version of Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor.” He was signed to play the lead role of Falstaff, but wound up getting blackballed by all 26 members of the musical cast. They took their charges against him to the Actors’ Equity Association, claiming he’d “physically and verbally abused his fellow performers.” Randy was fined a large sum of money and banned from AEA for life.

The Quaids met in New York in 1989. Evi is a former model, and it seems her wacky humor and artistic zeal is what made Randy fall in love with her. It has also been reported that Randy has become estranged from his mother and his brother, actor Dennis Quaid, due to Evi and her strange and controlling behavior.

When I heard that the Quaids were claiming they were on a hit list of Hollywood stars that included the deceased David Carradine and Heath Ledger, my first thought was that they were suffering from folie a deux, also known as “shared psychosis.” The French term means “a madness shared by two.” It is a psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief are transmitted from one individual to another. This syndrome is most commonly diagnosed when the two people live with each other and may be socially or physically isolated from other people.

There are clearly paranoid and persecutory delusions going on between Randy and Evi Quaid. I am also wondering if there are drug and alcohol issues as well. It is sad to see yet another Hollywood actor losing control of his life and his career. Only time will tell what is actually going on with the Quaids, not only regarding their legal problems, but their emotional and mental health as well.