Mr. Pyatt



Mr. Pyatt is one of the main antagonists in the 1985 cult film The Legend of Billie Jean. He is portrayed by Richard Bradford.

Mr. Pyatt is man who runs the "Dockside Sail Surf Dive", a store in Corpus Christi, Texas near the ocean. He along with his son Hubie Pyatt work there. Mr. Pyatt got a visit from Billie Jean Davy, a local teen who claims that Hubie Pyatt trashed the motorscooter that belongs to her brother Binx, which that happened. She showed him the bill for the scooter that it will cost $608 to fix. While initially appearing helpful and understanding, Mr. Pyatt gets Billie Jean alone and propositions her with a "Pay as you go, earn as you learn" plan by which he will have sex with her, giving her more money each time. He then attempts to rape her, but she escapes.

Meanwhile, Ophelia and Binx who were wating in the car while Billie Jean went to get the money, who are waiting downstairs has discovered a gun in the cash register and is playing with it when his sister returns, with Mr. Pyatt following. Seeing her in distress, an angry Binx turns the gun on Mr. Pyatt, who smugly tells him the gun is unloaded, so Binx pulls the trigger and a bullet hits Mr Pyatt in the shoulder, to the shock of everyone present, including Hubie. The group races away from the shop and back to the trailer park, where they quickly gather clothes and what little money they have. Putter sees what is happening and decides to go with them, wanting to escape from her boring home life and her bullying mother, despite Billie Jean's attempts to stop her. Ophelia cannot bring herself to go with them, but drives them to a safe place. They end up in an abandoned mini-golf park and spend the night there. Later on, as Billie Jean explores the park when Binx and Putter are sleeping, Ophelia returns, finding she could not abandon her friends and offers to take them anywhere they decide to go.

As the group continues across Corpus Christi the next morning, they are aided in getting gas and food at a local convenience store with the help some other teenagers. They also discover from a local newspaper that Mr. Pyatt was not seriously hurt and was released from the hospital. They also encounter people who believe the media, and Mr. Pyatt's lies, about what happened in the shop. Mr. Pyatt, in the meantime, has taken full advantage of the media attention by selling Billie Jean-themed wanted posters in his store and making a tidy profit at the same time, much to the disgust of Ringwald, who now regrets taking such a soft approach to the incident and resolves to help Billie Jean. Wanting to put a quick end to the situation, Billie Jean calls Ringwald and offers to turn herself in on the conditions that she receive the money to fix her brother's scooter and an apology from Mr. Pyatt, to which Ringwald agrees, but an angry Mr. Pyatt strongly objects. Later, the group arrives at Ocean Park Mall, where the meeting is to take place. After leaving IOU's for a pair of walkie-talkies and some batteries so they can keep in touch, Billie Jean spies Ringwald and Mr. Pyatt on the ground floor of the mall and goes down to meet them. While Ringwald is grilling Mr. Pyatt about what really happened the day of the shooting, Billie Jean approaches them. As Ringwald keeps his distance, Mr. Pyatt taunts Billie Jean and instead of giving her the money, he calls out to Hubie to grab her. Billie Jean flees up the mall escalator with Hubie in pursuit. She incapacitates him with a knee to the groin and runs for the second floor of the mall as Hubie's friends chase after her along with a furious Ringwald and some of his fellow cops and mall security. Billie Jean manages to slow them down by spilling marbles in their path and continues to run for safety. The kids quickly drive to the mall's parking complex where Binx pushes a garbage bin in front the exit Billie Jean is fleeing through, stopping them from following. Ringwald arrives through another exit, but Binx pulls a gun on him (a toy gun he took from the mall earlier) and holds him back long enough for the group to get away.

To end the escalating situation, Billie Jean calls Ringwald (who came looking for her, Binx and Lloyd at the golf park later the next day with a proposal to finally end the matter) and arranges to turn herself in. Again, her only demand is that Mr. Pyatt pay for the scooter repairs and apologize for his actions. Once word gets out, it becomes a huge media event and the public, including Billie Jean's many followers, turn out to support her. In the meanwhile, Mr. Pyatt has set up a concession stand full of Billie Jean merchandise including T-shirts, posters and even a life-size statue in her likeness. To avoid early detection, she, Binx and numerous friends wear varying confusing disguises. Lloyd's father has sharpshooters at the ready due to the (fake) gun that Binx has been seen with. Even though Detective Ringwald tells him he doesn't know that it's real, the DA won't change his mind. As Binx and Lloyd approach the crowd, Billie Jean sneaks up onto the makeshift stage and brings Binx's scooter out from under a tarp, fully repaired. It is revealed that the DA paid for the repairs, making Lloyd realize that his father does care for him. But before Binx and Lloyd can proceed any farther, Hubie alerts the crowd to Binx's deception. He tries to tell Hubie to keep quiet and aims the fake gun at him, causing one of the sharpshooters to shoot him in the shoulder. Believing that it's Billie Jean, the crowd goes insane and riots. As Lloyd tries to help Binx, a horrified Billie Jean tries to get to him herself, but gets blocked by the crowds and the policemen trying to contain them.

As Binx is taken away in an ambulance, Billie Jean confronts Mr. Pyatt and gets him to admit to how his actions led to him being shot in his store. After a short argument ensues between them, in which she asks if the money is for the "sex" lessons he tried to force on her at the beginning, Mr. Pyatt tries to (finally) reimburse Billie Jean for the scooter. She reluctantly takes the money, realizing she has contributed to the furor that followed after the shooting as much as Mr. Pyatt has. Billie Jean, reiterating that she can't accept anything more than what she asked for, approaches a subdued Mr. Pyatt and rams her knee into his crotch, sending him sprawling to the ground. She then says "You can keep your money. Go buy somebody else!" and throws it in his face. The onlookers (including