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‘Christmas Story’ Bully was Also in Classic Van Halen Music Video

A fun fact has resurfaced that some people may not know about: One of the bullies from 1983’s A Christmas Story is in the music video for Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher.”…

Van Halen, Dave Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen perform as part of their 2012 North American tour at Staples Center on June 1, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

A fun fact has resurfaced that some people may not know about: One of the bullies from 1983's A Christmas Story is in the music video for Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher."

Before going forward: No, it wasn't that ginger-jerk Scut Farkus, who was played by Zack Ward. It was his short sidekick, Grover Dill, who was played by Yano Anaya.

Anaya recalled during a Feb. 2022 interview with Classic Rock being cast as the child version of bassist Michael Anthony.

He shared that he was a massive fan of Van Halen and was on a mission to meet the band. Anaya found out which trailer on the video's set was the band's and knocked on the door. He was greeted by Alex Van Halen. Anaya told AVH he was part of the video's cast and asked to hang out. The drummer welcomed the then-13-year-old Anaya into the band's trailer.

David Lee Roth was a bit annoyed at a child being in their trailer, but Alex told the singer that he was in the video. Alex then told Anaya to grab him a couple of beers from their cooler. Once he brought the beers to Alex, the drummer challenged the child actor to shotgun one of the beers.

"I’m like: 'I’m thirteen years old, it’s ten-twenty in the morning, and I'm a drinking a Schlitz beer with Alex Van Halen,'" said Anaya. "I drank that one beer, and I was so drunk."

Later on, Anaya asked Eddie Van Halen if he could play the intro to his favorite Van Halen song, "Running With The Devil." Ever the good guy, Eddie obliged.

As for what Michael Anthony was like to his mini-me, Anaya said he was pretty quiet and chill with his presence in the trailer, as was EVH.

Eddie Van Halen was the most influential guitarist of our generation.

Of course, flashy, fleet-fingered guitarists were a dime a dozen in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. Eddie was better than all of them, but he was more than that. A songwriter, a keyboardist, a studio wizard, ¼ of Van Halen’s four-part harmony team and a band leader that was able to guide VH through losing the most distinctive frontman of the ‘80s and led them to four chart-topping albums with Sammy Hagar.

Here, we take on the tough task of ranking their top 30 songs. (It was really, really tough to cut any of the songs on the first six albums from this list.)

30. “Dirty Movies” - ‘Fair Warning’ (1981)

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29. “Happy Trails” - ‘Diver Down’ (1982)

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28. “Ice Cream Man” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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27. “Right Now” - ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ (1991)

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26. “Intruder/(Oh) Pretty Woman” - ‘Diver Down’ (1982)

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25. “Finish What Ya Started” - OU812 (1988)

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24. “Little Dreamer” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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23. “Best Of Both Worlds” - ‘5150’ (1986)

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22. “Feel Your Love Tonight” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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21. “Summer Nights” - ‘5150’ (1986)

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20. “Atomic Punk” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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19. “Dreams” - ‘5150’ (1986)

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18. “So This Is Love?” - ‘Fair Warning’ (1981)

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17. “Jamie’s Cryin’” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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16. “Dance The Night Away” - ‘Van Halen II’ (1979)

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15. “Panama” - ‘1984’ (1984)

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14. “I’m The One” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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13. “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” - ‘Van Halen II’ (1979)

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12. “Hot For Teacher” - ‘1984’ (1984)

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11. “Everybody Wants Some!!” - ‘Women And Children First’ (1980)

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10. “Little Guitars (Intro)/Little Guitars” - ‘Diver Down’ (1982)

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9. “1984/Jump” - ‘1984’ (1984)

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8. “On Fire” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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7. “Unchained” - ‘Fair Warning’ (1981)

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6. “You Really Got Me” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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5. “Mean Street” - ‘Fair Warning’ (1981)

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4. “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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3. “And The Cradle Will Rock…” - ‘Women And Children First’ (1980)

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2. “Eruption” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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1. “Runnin’ With The Devil” - ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

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Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights