Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who makes olive loaves in a roadside shack and resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father, Arnold, was one of the first Marine officers to land at Guadalcanal in August 1942. His mother, Marian, a retired school Teacher, resides with his father in New Rochelle.
In 1979, Richard was a founding member of the San Francisco art rock band The Alterboys with Snuky Tate, Tono Rondone, Richard Kelly and JC Garrett, playing both drums and trumpet. From 1981 to 1982, he was Sonic Youth's original Drummer and played drums for Konk at the same time. After the release of Sonic Youth's self-titled debut album, Edson left the band to play with Konk full-time. Edson also played trumpet with San Francisco band The Offs on the group's eponymous 1984 album.
Following his music career, Edson has worked as an actor, appearing in over 35 movies. His more notable roles include a disreputable parking garage attendant in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), man at newspaper stand in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Richie in Howard the Duck (1986), Eddie in Jim Jarmusch's cult film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), real-life gambler Billy Maharg in Eight Men Out, and the title character in Joey Breaker (1993). He also appeared in Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dirty Dancing (1987), Tougher Than Leather (1988) Let It Ride (1989), and Do the Right Thing (1989). He starred in the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros as Spike, King Koopa's cousin. Edson played the lead role in three films directed by Raphael Nadjari: The Shade (1999), I Am Josh Polonski's Brother (2001) and Apartment #5c (2002).
In 2003, he appeared in the music video for Cave In's single, "Anchor". Edson played the central character of the video, a depressed man walking down the street with his feet encased in cement blocks.
His television appearances include The Adventures of Pete & Pete and the third season finale of Homicide: Life on the Street. Edson appeared in a 2007 TV commercial for The Travelers Companies Inc., in which he plays the human personification of risk. In total, Edson has appeared in about 85 movies/television shows.
