Definite List of Deceased Actors from King Kong Franchise
This is list of all main or significant cast members of King Kong movie franchise who have past away in order of death date.
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- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Sam Hardy was born on 21 March 1883 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for King Kong (1933), The Miracle Woman (1931) and Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934). He was married to Betty Scott. He died on 16 October 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.Charles Weston. Appeared in King Kong (1933). He died October 16, 1935. Cause of death "following emergency operation for intestinal problems".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ed Brady was born on 6 December 1889 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Son of Kong (1933), Law of the West (1932) and Fires of Rebellion (1917). He was married to Lillian West. He died on 31 March 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Red. Appeared in The Son of Kong (1933). He died March 31, 1942. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Steve Clemente was born on 22 November 1882 in Tonichi, Sonora, Mexico. He was an actor, known for King Kong (1933), The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and The Sideshow (1928). He was married to Cuca Arebalo. He died on 7 May 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Witch King/Native Witch King. Appeared in King Kong (1933) and The Son of Kong (1933). He died May 7, 1950. Cause of death "cerebral hemorrhage".- John Marston was an actor, known for Son of Kong (1933), The Mayor of Hell (1933) and Skyscraper Souls (1932). He died on 2 September 1962 in New York City, New York, USA.Captain Nils Helstrom. Appeared in The Son of Kong (1933). He died September 2, 1962. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Though most famous as Capt. Englehorn, the ship captain who carried the expedition to an island to capture the great ape in King Kong (1933)--and its sequel, Son of Kong (1933)--Frank Reicher had a long history as a stage actor and director, and film director, prior to his "Kong" appearances, and in fact has more than 200 film roles to his credit.
Born in Munich, Germany, in 1875, he trained in Europe and then moved to New York in 1899 to act on the stage. His success there got him called to Hollywood in 1915, where he not only acted in films but also directed them. He took a few years off from his film career in 1921 to return to the New York stage, but then came back to Hollywood in 1926 and stayed there. He had a prolific career, acting and directing for most of the major studios, and was highly regarded in Hollywood not only as a filmmaker but as an acting teacher. In the World War II era he often played Nazi officials, or anti-Nazi partisans, and even turned up as a professor in The Mummy's Tomb (1942), a role he repeated in its sequel, The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and he played a succession of mad doctors, or their assistants, in several other Univeral horror films.
He made his final film in 1951, and died in 1965.Capt. Englehorn. Appeared in King Kong (1933) and The Son of Kong (1933). He died January 19, 1965. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Yoshio Kosugi was born on 15 September 1903 in Tochigi, Japan. He was an actor, known for Seven Samurai (1954), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945). He died on 12 March 1968.Chief of Faro Island/Farou Island Chief. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died March 12, 1968. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Victor Wong was born on 24 September 1906 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Son of Kong (1933), War Correspondent (1932) and The Phantom Submarine (1940). He died on 7 April 1972 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Charlie - Chinese Cook. Appeared in The Son of Kong (1933). He died April 7, 1972. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hollywood stalwart Bruce Cabot's main claim to fame, other than rescuing Fay Wray from King Kong (1933), is that he tested for the lead role of The Ringo Kid in John Ford's Western masterpiece Stagecoach (1939). John Wayne got the role and became the most durable star in Hollywood history, while Cabot (eventually) found himself a new drinking partner when the two co-starred in Angel and the Badman (1947). In the latter stages of his career, Cabot could rely on Wayne for a supporting part in one of the Duke's movies.
It wasn't always so. In the 1930s Cabot's star shone bright. He was born with the unlikely name Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the son of French Col. Etienne de Bujac and Julia Armandine Graves, who died shortly after giving birth to the future Bruce Cabot. After leaving the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, the future thespian hit the road, working a wide variety of jobs including sailor and insurance salesman, and doing a stint in a knacker's yard. In 1931 he wound up in Hollywood and appeared in several films in bit parts.
The young Monsieur de Bujac met David O. Selznick, then RKO's central producer (a job akin to Irving Thalberg's at MGM), at a Hollywood party, which led to an uncredited bit part as a dancer in Lady with a Past (1932) and a supporting role in The Roadhouse Murder (1932). On a parallel career track at the time, Marion Morrison (John Wayne) had failed to follow up on his audacious debut in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930) (the Duke had appeared in 18 movies previously but had only been billed in one, as "Duke Morrison" in the unlikely John Wayne vehicle Words and Music (1929)). Cabot and Wayne eventually appeared in 11 films together.
Although Cabot was prominently featured in the blockbuster "King Kong" in 1933, he never did make the step to stardom, though he enjoyed a thriving career as a supporting player. He was a heavy in the 1930s, playing a gangster boss in Let 'em Have It (1935) and the revenge-minded Native American brave Magua after Randolph Scott's scalp in The Last of the Mohicans (1936); over at MGM, he ably supported Spencer Tracy as the instigator of a lynch mob in Fritz Lang's indictment of domestic fascism, Fury (1936). A freelancer, he appeared in movies at many studios before leaving Hollywood for military service. Cabot worked for Army intelligence overseas during World War II; after the war, he continued to work steadily, with and without his friend and frequent co-star, the Duke.
Bruce Cabot died in 1972 of lung and throat cancer. He was 68 years old.Jack Driscoll. Appeared in King Kong (1933). He died May 3, 1972. Cause of death "lung and throat cancer".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert Armstrong is familiar to old-movie buffs for his case-hardened, rapid-fire delivery in such roles as fast-talking promoters, managers, FBI agents, street cops, detectives and other such characters in scores of films--over 160--many of them at Warner Brothers, where he was part of the so-called "Warner Brothers Stock Company" that consisted of such players as James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale and Humphrey Bogart, among others.
Although he could easily be taken for having grown up in a tough area of Brooklyn or the Bronx, he was actually from the Midwest. He was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1890, and his father owned a small and profitable flotilla of boats for use on Lake Michigan. Hearing the Siren call of the gold fields in late 19th-century Alaska, however, he packed up the family and headed west. A typical staging place to start north was in Washington state, and the family settled in Seattle. Robert spent a short hitch in the infantry during World War I. Afterwards he decided to go into law and started to study at the University of Washington. However, it wasn't long before that he decided he had a gift for acting and--perhaps influenced by his uncle, playwright and producer Paul Armstrong--decided to follow that path. He hooked up with future Hollywood character actor James Gleason, known to everyone as "Jimmy", who worked for a variety of playhouses in California and Oregon and who was heir to his parents' stock company, which toured across the US. Armstrong joined Gleason's company and returned with them to New York. He started from the bottom up, learning the craft of acting. After moving on to leading roles, he received the prime part in Gleason's own play "Is Zat So?" (1925-1926), a particularly successful play among several he had written (he also directed and produced plays on Broadway into 1928).
Hollywood scouts were watching, and Armstrong found himself with a film contract. He appeared in approximately 10 films in 1928 alone, and after the first five he was able, with the advent of sound, to give voice to the take-charge, mile-a-minute, clenched-teeth delivery that would make him one of the busiest character men in Hollywood--and right alongside him in several of his early 1930s features was his old friend and boss Jimmy Gleason.
It was in 1932 that Armstrong became acquainted with an ambitious and adventurous pair of Hollywood filmmakers. Both were World War I fliers, big-game hunters and animal trappers, and partners in high adventure documentaries, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack had found a friend in rising producer David O. Selznick, who brought them on board at RKO, with Cooper as production idea man. Schoedsack was the technical side of the pair, knowledgeable about the actual physical and technical side of filmmaking, , and became the actual director of their projects, with Cooper as an associate producer and sometime co-director. They turned out what would be the first of a string of horror-tinged adventure movies, The Most Dangerous Game (1932), with Armstrong having a part in it. He got in his usual wisecrack lines but from a less dimensioned character who had an early demise--the film centered on Joel McCrea and still young silent screen veteran Fay Wray. Cooper saw much of himself in Armstrong's general personality and wanted him for a film that he had been wanting to make for quite a few years, an adventure yarn dealing with the stories he had heard during his years making films in jungles all over the world of giant, vicious apes. The resulting film, King Kong (1933), would put Armstrong at stage center as big-time promoter Carl Denham (very much Cooper himself). The film also began co-star Fay Wray on the road to stardom. With Copper and Schoedsack co-directing and the legendary Willis H. O'Brien heading up a visual effects team supporting his for-the-time astounding animated miniature sequences, the film was a treasure trove for RKO, bringing newfound respect for a studio known mostly for its "B" action films and westerns. It was Armstrong's defining moment and set the stage for the plethora of leading man and second lead roles he would play through the 1930s.
A sequel, Son of Kong (1933), followed almost immediately with the same production team and, though not achieving the critical or box-office acclaim as its predecessor, showcased another Armstrong strength--a great sense of comedic timing that had been evident, but not really traded upon, in previous films. The Cooper/Schoedsack team got in one more for 1933, with Armstrong as an uncommon--for him--romantic lead in Blind Adventure (1933), a fast-paced but but often uneven adventure yarn. All the studios wanted him, and what followed was a flood of usually good, crowd-pleasing roles, although still in "B" pictures. Among the better ones were Palooka (1934) and 'G' Men (1935), with Armstrong playing a hard-nosed FBI agent who is mentor and partner to a young James Cagney. With a full menu of adventure yarns and colorful cop and military roles, at the end of the decade Armstrong even played one of America's great folk heroes - Jim Bowie - in Man of Conquest (1939), this time at Republic Pictures.
Armstrong got more of the same in the decade of World War II--although with age he started to slip down the cast list--with some variety, playing a Nazi agent in the spoof My Favorite Spy (1942) and--in somewhat ridiculous "Japanese" makeup--as a Japanese secret-police colonel (named Tojo) with former co-star James Cagney in the escapist romp Blood on the Sun (1945). Finally, Cooper--gorillas still on his mind--came calling for Armstrong again for his Mighty Joe Young (1949), which he made about midway in his association with partner John Ford in their Argosy Pictures venture under the wing of RKO. Armstrong was again a reincarnation of Carl Denham as Max O'Hara, a fast-talking promoter looking for a sensation in "Darkest Africa". The Ford touch is perhaps seen in the cowboys who go along with young Ben Johnson as romantic lead to enthusiastic--to say the least--Terry Moore with her pet gorilla Joe (about half as big as King Kong but definitely no ordinary gorilla). It is a great little movie, with more light-hearted tone than "Kong" and a red-tinted fire scene recalling the silents. It was a Saturday matinée favorite for at least a decade afterward (this writer enjoyed it as his first movie theater adventure as a small child).
Armstrong increasingly went to the small screen through the 1950s. He was a familiar face on most of the TV playhouse programs of the period and did many of the series oaters and crime shows of the period. He received a great send-up as a guest on Red Skelton's variety show when the oft giggling host asked him, "Say, did you ever get that monkey off that building?" Armstrong liked keeping busy and helping friends. One of the latter was Cooper--still promoting as his alter ego Carl Denham in his old age. The two passed away within 24 hours of one another in April of 1973.Carl Denham. Appeared in King Kong (1933) and The Son of Kong (1933). He died April 20, 1973. Cause of death "cancer".- Ikio Sawamura was born on 4 September 1905 in Tochigi, Japan. He was an actor, known for Yojimbo (1961), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and High and Low (1963). He died on 20 September 1975.Praying Faro Islander/Witch Doctor/Mondo Islander. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died September 20, 1975. Cause of death "cancer".
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Although he attended West Point, James Flavin decided on an acting career instead of the military. After touring with several stock and repertory companies, he arrived in Hollywood and broke into films in the early 1930s. A fast-talking, granite-jawed Irishman, Flavin appeared in hundreds of films during his career and was often cast as a big-city homicide detective, street cop, prison guard or Marine sergeant. One of Flavin's closest friends, oddly enough, was legendary cheapo producer Sam Katzman. Flavin was married for more than 40 years to actress Lucile Browne; he died in 1976, and she died two weeks after he did.Second Mate Briggs. Appeared in King Kong (1933). He died April 23, 1976. Cause of death "ruptured aorta".- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
African-American movie actor and producer Noble Johnson was born on April 18, 1881, in Marshall, Missouri. His family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, when Noble was very young, and it was there that he met Lon Chaney at school. They became friends as children, and later got re-acquainted when both were making movies in Hollywood and became friends all over again (surprisingly, they never made any movies together).
Johnson was built like a bull, standing 6'2" at 215 pounds. His impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player. In the silent era he essayed a wide variety of characters of different races in a plethora of films, primarily serials, westerns and adventure movies. While Johnson was cast as blacks in many films, he also played Native American and Latino parts and "exotic" characters such as Arabians or even a devil in hell in Dante's Inferno (1924) (the old black and white orthochromatic film stock of the early days was less discriminating about a person's color, as were B+W stocks in general, permitting some African-American actors a break, as their "color" was washed out or less obvious when photographed in B+W. As late as the early 1960s, there were very few African-American members of the Screen Actors Guild, since there was a lack of opportunity for them as black performers were confined mostly to race films until the 1960s). In all his roles, Johnson lived up to his Christian name: his was a noble and dignified presence that exhibited great power and substance.
Johnson also was an entrepreneur. In 1916 he founded his own studio to produce what would be called "race films", movies made for the African-American audience, which was ignored by the "mainstream" film industry. The Lincoln Motion Picture Co., which was in existence until 1921, was an all-black company, the first to produce movies portraying African-Americans as real people instead of as racist caricatures (Johnson was followed into the race film business by Oscar Micheaux and others). Johnson, who served as president of the company and was its primary asset as a star actor, helped support the studio by acting in other companies' productions such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916), and using the money he made in those films to invest in Lincoln.
Lincoln's first picture was The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (1916). For four years Johnson managed to keep Lincoln a going concern, primarily due to his extraordinary commitment to African-American filmmaking. However, he reluctantly resigned as president in 1920, as he no longer could continue his double business life, maintaining a demanding career in Hollywood films while trying to run a studio.
In the 1920s Johnson was a very busy character actor, appearing in such top-notch films as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) with Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. DeMille's original The Ten Commandments (1923) andThe Thief of Bagdad (1924). He made the transition to sound, appearing in the 1930 version of Moby Dick (1930) as Queequeg to John Barrymore's Captain Ahab. He was also the tribal leader on Skull Island in the classic King Kong (1933) (and its sequel, Son of Kong (1933)) and appeared in Frank Capra's classic Lost Horizon (1937) as one of theporters. One of his last films was John Ford's classic She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), in which he played Native American Chief Red Shirt. He retired from the movie industry in 1950.
Johnson died on January 9, 1978, in Yucaipa (San Bernardino), California, at age 96. He is buried in the Garden of Peace at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, California.Native Chief. Appeared in King Kong (1933) and The Son of Kong (1933). He died January 9, 1978. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Osman Yusuf was born on 23 May 1920 in Ottoman Empire [now Turkey]. He was an actor, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), Submersion of Japan (1973) and Mothra (1961). He died on 29 August 1982 in Japan.United Nations correspondent on Seahawk/Submariner. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died August 29, 1982. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- He had an unusual background for an actor: his formal education began in a kindergarten founded by the wartime-era Japanese Imperial Army, and continued in a military academy which was Tokyo's answer to West Point. Upon graduating from Tokyo University (Japan's most prestigious), Hirata confounded many family expectations of him by pursuing a career in acting. His first roles in Tetsuwan namida ari (1953) and The Last Embrace (1953) brought him to the attention of director Ishirô Honda, who promptly cast Hirata first in his WW2 romance Farewell Rabaul Saraba Rabauru (1954) and then, later that year, in the role that would come to define Hirata's career: the tormented, one-eyed scientist Daisuke Serizawa, who alone has figured out a way to destroy the monster Gojira Godzilla (1954). That movie made stars out of all of the younger actors who were fortunate enough to star in it, though Hirata tended more towards second leads and character parts. He was often called the best-known of all actors to appear in Gojira movies (he would turn up in six of the sequels), but this was due as much to his popularity with directors as with his exposure through the monster movies. He was a favorite of directors Ishiro Honda, Jun Fukuda, Hiroshi Inagaki, and much beloved by virtually all the actors who knew him: honest and humorous, highly intellectual but never pretentious. He appeared in literally every kind of movie Toho Studios made, from the monster pictures to samurai dramas (including his one movie for Akira Kurosawa, Sanjuro (1962)) to war dramas to comedies. Still, he remained identified most directly in the public's mind with the original Gojira; his character Serizawa is among the best remembered and most admired in all Japanese films, both inside Japan and out. Hirata was chosen by Toho to announce the monster's return in Godzilla 1985 (1985), and was tapped for a major role; but he died tragically of lung cancer before he could begin shooting.Dr. Shigesawa/Dr. Shigezawa. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died July 25, 1984. Cause of death "lung cancer".
- Mario Gallo was born on 22 March 1923 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Raging Bull (1980), King Kong (1976) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974). He died on 30 October 1984 in Ontario, California, USA.Timmons. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died October 30, 1984. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Jun Tazaki was born on 28 August 1913 in Aomori, Japan. He was an actor, known for High and Low (1963), Ran (1985) and Atragon (1963). He died on 18 October 1985 in Tokyo, Japan.Commanding General of the JSDF Eastern Army/General Masami Shinzo. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died October 18, 1985. Cause of death "lung cancer".
- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Helen Mack started her career in movies at the age of ten, and by the time she was 13 was performing in vaudeville. Her acting career didn't blossom until the 1930s, when she made a name for herself as one of the movie's best criers. She had many leading roles opposite such actors as Lee Tracy, George Raft and Harold Lloyd. She may be best remembered for Son of Kong (1933) and His Girl Friday (1940). In later years she was a successful radio producer, writer and director.Hilda. Appeared in The Son of Kong (1933). She died August 13, 1986. Cause of death "cancer".- Japanese actor who specialized in comedy. He joined a theatre company while still in his teens, following the death of his parents. Following the Second World War, he began to get small film roles. Within a decade, he had become a prominent character actor and also one of Toho Films' biggest comedy stars, often teamed with comedian Furankî Sakai. Toho produced two series of comedies with Arishima, the 'Company President' films and the internationally more widely-known 'Young Guy' movies. Arishima continued to appear in both comedic and dramatic roles until his death at 71.Tako/Mr. Tako. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died July 20, 1987. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Harry Holcombe was born on 11 November 1906 in Malta, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fortune Cookie (1966), Foxy Brown (1974) and Empire of the Ants (1977). He was married to Betty Nielsen. He died on 15 September 1987 in Valencia, California, USA.Dr. Arnold Johnson. Appeared in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died September 15, 1987. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Frank Maraden was born on 9 August 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Money Pit (1986), King Kong Lives (1986) and American Playhouse (1980). He was married to Marti Maraden. He died on 16 May 1989.Dr. Benson Hughes. Appeared in King Kong Lives (1986). He died May 16, 1989. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Actor
- Stunts
Shôichi Hirose was born on 23 July 1918. He was an actor, known for Yojimbo (1961), Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress (1958). He died in 1990.Kingu Kongu/King Kong/Henchman. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died 1990. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Senkichi Ômura was born on 27 April 1923 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for Yojimbo (1961), Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress (1958). He died in 1991 in Urawa, Saitama-ken, Japan.Interpreter Konno/TTV Translator Konno. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died 1991. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Jorge Moreno was born on 19 May 1916 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for King Kong (1976), Breakout (1975) and Mannix (1967). He died on 10 April 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Garcia. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died April 10, 1992. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Harold Conway was born on 24 May 1911 in Curwensville, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), The Mysterians (1957) and Mothra (1961). He was married to Hiroko Ishiwata and Ruth Nadine Rishel. He died in 1996 in Japan.United Nations correspondent on Seahawk/Scientist in Sub. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died 1996. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Andrew Hughes was born on 1 January 1908 in Ottoman Empire. He was an actor, known for Kureji no daiboken (1965), Esupai (1974) and King Kong Escapes (1967). He died on 1 September 1996.United Nations Reporter. Appeared in Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died September 1, 1996. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Sachio Sakai was born on 8 September 1925 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for Godzilla (1954), Yojimbo (1961) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). He died on 11 March 1998 in Japan.Obayashi/Obayashi (Mr. Tako's assistant)/Henchman. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died March 11, 1998. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Actor
- Music Department
John Agar was born in Chicago, the eldest of four children. In World War II, Sgt. John Agar was a United States Army Air Force physical instructor. His 1945 marriage at the Wilshire Memorial Church to "America's Sweetheart" Shirley Temple put him in the public eye for the first time, and a movie contract with independent producer David O. Selznick quickly ensued.
Agar debuted opposite John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Temple in John Ford's Fort Apache (1948), initial film in the famed director's "Cavalry Trilogy".
His marriage to Shirley Temple ended in 1949, while his movie career continued.
Popular with fans of Westerns and sci-fi flicks, Agar was a staple at film conventions and autograph shows.City Official. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died April 7, 2002. Cause of death "emphysema".- Excellent and engaging character actor Dennis Fimple was born 11 November, 1940, in Ventura, California and raised in the nearby town of Taft. His father, Elmer was an electrician, and his mother, Dolly was a beautician. Dennis first became interested in acting after he portrayed Tom Sawyer in a junior high school play. After graduating Taft Union High School, Fimple attended San Jose College on a scholarship, and majored in both speech and drama. He also earned a teaching credential at San Jose College. Dennis worked in a Cheetos factory by day and acted in dinner theater at night in his early days. Fimple eventually moved to Hollywood, where he initially worked as a teacher by day and a delivery man at night, prior to getting his first break; a 2-episode guest appearance on Petticoat Junction (1963).
Best known as the lovably dim-witted Kyle Murty on the comedy Western television program, Alias Smith and Jones (1971), Dennis popped up in many TV series throughout the years including; Here Come the Brides (1968), M*A*S*H (1972), The Rockford Files (1974), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Battlestar Galactica (1978), The Dukes of Hazzard (1979), Matt Houston (1982), Highway to Heaven (1984), Knight Rider (1982), The A-Team (1983), The Incredible Hulk (1978),Simon & Simon (1981), Sledge Hammer! (1986), Quantum Leap (1989) Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) and ER (1994). Fimple was frequently cast as scruffy rural types in both films and TV shows alike. Among his most memorable movie roles are the amiable Curly in the delightful Claudia Jennings' drive-in classic, Truck Stop Women (1974), easygoing moonshine runner Dewey Crenshaw in Bootleggers (1974), likable eager beaver college anthropology student Pahoo, in the terrific Sasquatch cinema outing Creature from Black Lake (1976), the goofy Sunfish in the much-maligned King Kong (1976) remake, and cloddish fur trapper, Posey in the superior horror-Western The Shadow of Chikara (1977). His last film part was as the madcap Grandpa Hugo Firefly in Rob Zombie's enjoyably trashy 70's horror exploitation pastiche, House of 1000 Corpses (2003).
Dennis was not only an avid reader, but also a lover of antiques and collectibles. He's the father of son Chris. Dennis Fimple died at age 61, of complications from a car accident at his home in Frazier Park, California on August 23, 2002Sunfish. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died August 23, 2002. Cause of death "road accident". - One of Japan's most distinctive character actors, Eisei Amamoto is one of their cinema's few personalities who is easily recognizable to Western movie buffs. Tall (six feet) and skeletal of build, bony-faced and wild-haired (when not ensconced in a vast silver wig), Amamoto's persona inspired Woody Allen to dub him with an imitation Peter Lorre voice in What's Up Tiger Lily? (1966). He was better served by Paul Frees' menacing tones in King Kong Escapes (Kingukongu no gyakushu, 1967). But neither voice matches Amamoto's own, surprisingly deep and resonant for his scrawny, sunken-chested frame. It might have served him well had he pursued his original career choice: politics. He barely managed to dodge the draft into Japan's Pacific War, through acceptance to Tokyo University, his nation's most prestigious school. He studied law, for he wished to become a diplomat, but he soon grew disillusioned in his studies, his world view darkened by the mire into which his country was plunging through its disastrous war. A sympathetic older sister rescued him from his self-confessed nihilism by introducing him to friends in the entertainment field who encouraged Amamoto to become an actor. Through these connections, Amamoto landed a place in the highly regarded Hayuza group of stage actors, where in an early bit of what would become typecasting, he portrayed a knife-wielding madman in the play "Dojinkai". There he was spotted by director Keisuke Kinoshita, who observed "THERE'S an interesting-looking guy", and promptly cast him in a small but pivotal role in his classic Twenty-Four Eyes (1954). Amamoto later joined Toho Studios, where he was at first nothing more than a background player in the likes of Nippon Tanjo (1959). His parts grew steadily larger and more showy in the likes of Denso ningen (The Secret of the Telegian, 1960) and Yojinbo (1961). By the late 1960s he was equally recognized for samurai films like Sword of Doom and science fiction/fantasy projects like Kingukongu no gyakushu (1967). Though he could hardly be less similar to Peter Lorre, he is at least as big a cult figure in present-day Japan, lending his name and presence to any number of films, TV shows and animated productions. As well, he has cultivated a reputation as an eccentric TV talkshow presence. Always fascinated by the country of Spain, he has also played flamenco guitar on the stage, sometimes in collaboration with his friend and fellow actor Yoshio Tsuchiya. He has written several books about Spain, and spends as much time living there as he can.Dr. Who. Appeared in Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died March 23, 2003. Cause of death "acute pneumonia".
- Ren Yamamoto was born on 12 May 1930 in Ashigara, Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for Godzilla (1954), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Mothra (1961). He died on 17 June 2003.Chief of SDF/Commander of Operation Burial. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died June 17, 2003. Cause of death "cerebral apoplexy".
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Veteran performer John Randolph was a Tony Award-winning character actor whose union and social activism in the '40s and '50s caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. The balding performer may not have been a household name, but he was a regular face in movies and TV for over four decades.
He was born Emanuel Cohen on June 1, 1915, in New York City, to Jewish immigrants from Romania and Russia, mother Dorothy (Shorr), an insurance agent, and father Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer. When his father died and his mother remarried, his stepfather, Joseph Lippman, renamed him Mortimer.
He began his dramatic training in the '30s, studying under Stella Adler and changing his name to the less ethnic moniker of "John Randolph". He served in the Army Air Force during WWII and married actress Sarah Cunningham in Chicago in 1945 while performing in Orson Welles's stage production of "Native Son". They had two children, Martha and Harrison.
After the war, Randolph become one of the original members of the Actors Studio. After making his film debut with The Naked City (1948), his passionate, outspoken leftist views and defense of other accused figures led to Randolph and his wife being blacklisted. In 1955, they were both called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Although Randolph lost many jobs during this 15-year blacklist, he continued to find work onstage, mainly in New York.
Finally, director John Frankenheimer broke the Hollywood blacklist after casting Randolph, along with fellow "marked" actors Will Geer and Jeff Corey, in Seconds (1966), in which he played a disillusioned older man surgically made to look decades younger (now played by Rock Hudson). Randolph continued to flourish in films and TV following this breakthrough with important roles in Serpico (1973), Frances (1982), Prizzi's Honor (1985) and You've Got Mail (1998), along with the TV movies The Missiles of October (1974) and "Lincoln" (1975) (mini). He also played the recurring role of Roseanne Barr's father on her popular sitcom.
In 1987, he was the recipient of both Tony and Drama Desk awards for his close-to-home portrayal of a Communist, left-wing grandfather in Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound". Randolph continued his activism into the 1980s, heading the Council of American-Soviet Friendship, a cultural exchange organization. He died of natural causes at age 88.Captain Ross. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died February 24, 2004. Cause of death "natural causes".- Actress
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Canadian-born Fay Wray was brought up in Los Angeles and entered films at an early age. She was barely in her teens when she started working as an extra. She began her career as a heroine in westerns at Universal during the silent era. In 1926 the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers selected 13 young starlets it deemed most likely to succeed in pictures. Fay was chosen as one of these starlets, along with Janet Gaynor and Mary Astor. Fame would indeed come to Fay when she played another heroine in Erich von Stroheim's The Wedding March (1928). She continued playing leads in a number of films, such as the good-bad girl in Thunderbolt (1929). By the early 1930s she was at Paramount working with Gary Cooper and Jack Holt in a number of average films, such as Master of Men (1933). She also appeared in such horror films as Doctor X (1932) and The Vampire Bat (1933). In 1933 Fay was approached by producer Merian C. Cooper, who told her that he had a part for her in a picture in which she would be working with a tall, dark leading man. What he didn't tell her was that her "tall, dark leading man" was a giant gorilla, and the picture turned out to be the classic King Kong (1933). Perhaps no one in the history of pictures could scream more dramatically than Fay, and she really put on a show in "Kong". Her character provided a combination of sex appeal, vulnerability and lung capacity as she was stalked by the giant beast all the way to the top of the Empire State Building. That was as far as Fay would rise, however, as this was, after all, just another horror movie. After "Kong", she began a slow decline that put her into low-budget action films by the mid '30s. In 1939 her 11-year marriage to screenwriter John Monk Saunders ended in divorce, and her career was almost finished. In 1942 she remarried and retired from the screen, forever to be remembered as the "beauty who killed the beast" in "King Kong". However, in 1953 she made a comeback, playing mature character roles, and also appeared on television as Catherine, Natalie Wood's mother, in The Pride of the Family (1953). She continued to appear in films until 1958 and television into the 1960s.Ann Darrow. Appeared in King Kong (1933). She died August 8, 2004. Cause of death "natural causes".- Prior to breaking into films, Philadelphia native Julius Harris worked as a bouncer in New York City. It was due to his many associations with struggling actors, that on a dare, Harris auditioned for his first role, in the well-received picture Nothing But a Man (1964), in which he played a father in the South, alongside Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln. After, this, Harris' impressive physique and deep voice helped enable him to rack up numerous appearances in the then popular blaxploitation genre.
His strong appearance in supporting roles in such low-budget films as Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Super Fly (1972), and Black Caesar (1973), which helped springboard him into better quality productions. Harris scored a co-starring role in the first Roger Moore James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973), in which his portrayal of the bald-headed, grinning villain "Tee Hee", with the menacing artificial arm, was one of the more iconic heavies of the entire franchise.
More work quickly followed for Harris, including NYPD "Inspector Daniels" in the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), King Kong (1976), and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). In addition to his film work, he was guest-starring in numerous TV shows, including Harry O (1973), Sanford and Son (1972), Cannon (1971), Good Times (1974), and Kojak (1973). Harris continued working throughout the 1980s in a mixture of different character roles, although the 1990s proved to be a leaner period for him.
Julius Harris passed away on October 17, 2004 from heart failure, at the age of 81. He was cremated and then interred in his hometown, and is survived by his daughter (Kimberly) and his son (Gideon).Boan. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died October 17, 2004. Cause of death "heart failure". - Actor
- Soundtrack
Tatsuo Matsumura was born on 18 December 1914 in Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for Harakiri (1962), Madadayo (1993) and 47 Ronin (1994). He died on 18 June 2005 in Tokyo, Japan.Dr. Makioka/Dr. Makino. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died June 18, 2005. Cause of death "heart failure".- Yû Fujiki was born on 2 March 1931 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). He died on 19 December 2005 in Chûô-ku, Tokyo, Japan.Kinsaburo Furue. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died December 19, 2005. Cause of death "pulmonary embolism".
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Akemi Negishi might never have become an actress but for Josef von Sternberg. The legendary director was in Japan looking for a woman to play the seductress who leads a bunch of soldiers astray in his upcoming (and as it turned out, last) movie _Anatahan (1954)_. But Sternberg spotted Negishi one night, dancing on the cabaret stage, and chose her at once. This was the first in a long string of exotic roles, most unusual for the average Japanese actress, but which became her trademark, in films as various as _Kingukongu tai Gojira (1962)_ and Dodes'ka-den (1970). She was a favorite actress of both Akira Kurosawa and Ishirô Honda, both directors seeing beyond the kind of role in which she was usually typecast, and thereby encouraging her to some of the best work any Japanese actress did in the 1950s and 1960s. Her most memorable roles are probably for Kurosawa, in The Lower Depths (1957) and Dodes'ka-den (1970); but she is probably best known outside Japan for playing the woman who leads the dance of tribute to Kong in _Kingukongu tai Gojira (1962)_. Negishi was an unusual presence in Japanese film at that time, since her presence was so aggressively, obviously sensual. This militated against her becoming a major star in the conservative Japanese atmosphere of the time, but she was fortunate to be able to do excellent character work throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Following her arresting cameo as the beautiful lone housewife in Dodes'ka-den (1970), it appears that Negishi retired.Chikiro's mother/Chikiro's Mother (Dancing Girl). Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). She died March 11, 2008. Cause of death "ovarian cancer".- Yoshifumi Tajima was born on August 4, 1918 in Kobe, Japan. His career in movies debuted in 1956, starring in a movie produced by Daiei Studios (known for making its "Gamera" movies) and directed by Ishirô Honda called Night School (1956). He joined Toho Studios the same year, playing "Izeki" in the sci-fi epic Rodan (1956). He became quite a fixture in Toho Studios' sci-fi films from then on, playing an assortment of characters from villains to detectives, and from generals to captains. However, he was probably most famous for his role as the delightfully villainous entrepreneur Kumayama in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). He also appeared as a regular cast member of the TV series Ultra Q (1965).Yukichi Yamamoto/Henchman. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died September 10, 2009. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- Garry Walberg was born on 10 June 1921 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Quincy M.E. (1976), King Kong (1976) and Johnny Staccato (1959). He was married to Florence M Apostol, Patsy Collett and Betty Jean Horner. He died on 27 March 2012 in Northridge, California, USA.Army General. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died March 27, 2012. Cause of death "chronic pulmonary obstructive disease and congestive heart failure".
- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Cliff Harrington was born on 18 June 1932 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), Arcadia of My Youth (1982) and Onmitsu kenshi (1962). He died on 9 August 2013 in Kyushu, Japan.Al the helicopter co-pilot. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died August 9, 2013. Cause of death "undisclosed".- Edward Matthew Lauter II was born on October 30, 1938 in Long Beach, New York. In a film career that extended for over four decades, Lauter starred in a plethora of film and television productions since making his big screen debut in the western Dirty Little Billy (1972). He portrayed an eclectic array of characters over the years, including (but not limited to), authority/military figures, edgy villains, and good-hearted heavies. Many will remember him for his appearance as the stern Captain Wilhelm Knauer in The Longest Yard (1974) (Lauter also made a cameo in the 2005 remake). Lauter also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Jim Carrey and Liam Neeson. With a face that seemed to appear without warning everywhere, Lauter remained in demand for roles on both films and television. Ed Lauter died of mesothelioma in his home in Los Angeles, California on October 16, 2013, less than two weeks before his 75th birthday.Carnahan. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died October 16, 2013. Cause of death "mesothelioma".
- Rhodes Reason was born in Glendale, California on April 19, 1930. He was the younger brother of Rex Reason. Rhodes made his professional debut at the age of 18 in a stage production of 'Romeo and Juliet' under the direction of Charles Laughton. His career has spanned nearly 40 years and he appeared in over 230 roles in television, movies and stage. He starred in the series White Hunter (1957) in England, and was cast as Sheriff Will Mayberry in the TV series Bus Stop (1961). His numerous guest appearances included Death Valley Days (1952), Here's Lucy (1968), Maverick (1957), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), The Time Tunnel (1966), Perry Mason (1957), Star Trek (1966), among many others. In the early 1980s he starred in the Broadway musical "Annie", playing Daddy Warbucks for nearly three years. He was an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Commander Carl Nelson. Appeared in Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died December 26, 2014. Cause of death "Parkinson's disease and lymphoma".
- Haruya Katô was born on 22 June 1928 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and The Mysterians (1957). He died in 2015.Pacific Pharmaceuticals advertising department employee/Obayashi's assistant. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died 2015. Cause of death "undisclosed".
- William Johnson was born in May 1924 in Hebden Bridge, Great Britain. He was an actor, known for King Kong (2005), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Water Horse (2007). He was married to Merle. He died on 23 September 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.Manny. Appeared in King Kong (2005). He died September 23, 2016. Cause of death "natural causes".
- Actor
- Stunts
- Transportation Department
Haruo Nakajima was born on 1 January 1929 in Yamagata, Japan. He was an actor, known for Seven Samurai (1954), Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). He died on 7 August 2017 in Japan.Gojira/Godzilla/Faro Islander of the monitoring base/Kingukongu (King Kong). Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died August 7, 2017. Cause of death "complications from pneumonia".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tadao Takashima was born on 27 July 1930 in Kobe, Japan. He was an actor, known for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Son of Godzilla (1967). He was married to Hanayo Sumi. He died on 26 June 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.Osamu Sakurai. Appeared in Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died June 26, 2019. Cause of death "natural causes".- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
René Murat Auberjonois was born on June 1, 1940 in New York City, to Princess Laure Louise Napoléone Eugénie Caroline (Murat), who was born in Paris, and Fernand Auberjonois, who was Swiss-born. René was born into an already artistic family, which included his grandfather, a well-known Swiss painter, and his father, a Pulitzer-nominated writer and Cold War-era foreign correspondent. The Auberjonois family moved to Paris shortly after World War II, and it was there that René made an important career decision at the age of six. When his school put on a musical performance for the parents, little René was given the honor of conducting his classmates in a rendition of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?". When the performance was over, René took a bow, and, knowing that he was not the real conductor, imagined that he had been acting. He decided then and there that he wanted to be an actor. After leaving Paris, the Auberjonois family moved into an Artist's Colony in upstate New York.
At an early age, René was surrounded by musicians, composers and actors. Among his neighbors were Helen Hayes, Burgess Meredith and John Houseman, who would later become an important mentor. Houseman gave René his first theater job at the age of 16, as an apprentice at a theater in Stratford, Connecticut. René would later teach at Juilliard under Houseman. René attended Carnegie-Mellon University and studied theater completely, not only learning about acting but about the entire process of producing a play. After graduating from CMU, René acted with various theater companies, including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. In 1969, he won a role in his first Broadway musical, "Coco" (with Katharine Hepburn), for which he won a Tony Award.
Throughout his life, René acted in a variety of theater productions, films and television presentations, including a rather famous stint as Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson (1979), not to mention seven years on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) as Odo. René also performed dramatic readings of a variety of books on tape, and appeared in projects like The Patriot (2000), starring Mel Gibson, Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000), and NBC's Frasier (1993) and ABC's The Practice (1997).Bagley. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died December 8, 2019. Cause of death "metastatic lung cancer".- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Deadpan comedian Charles Sydney Grodin (originally Grodinsky) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of Russian/Polish ancestry and raised in a Jewish orthodox home. He attended the University of Miami but dropped out, opting instead for the life of a struggling actor. The movie A Place in the Sun (1951) was said to have steered him towards his chosen profession. In his own words: "It was two things. One is I think I developed an overwhelming crush on Elizabeth Taylor. And two, Montgomery Clift made acting look like 'Gee, well that looks pretty easy - just a guy talking.'".
After a spell with Uta Hagen (1956-59), he attended Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio before making his stage debut on Broadway in 1962. Though he appeared on screen from as early as 1954, Grodin did not make a great deal of headway in this medium until he attracted critical notice playing the small but crucial role of obstetrician Dr. C.C. Hill in Rosemary's Baby (1968). More substantial roles soon followed. His first major starring turn was in The Heartbreak Kid (1972), a black comedy written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May. Grodin managed to inject charm and humanity in what was essentially an egotistical central character. Film reviewer Roger Ebert praised his performance, describing the actor as a "kind of Dustin Hoffman-as-overachiever", an opinion which was echoed by Vincent Canby of the New York Times. Ironically, Grodin had earlier turned down the pivotal role in The Graduate (1967) which propelled Hoffman to stardom (he also -- probably unwisely -- spurned the role of oceanographer Matt Hooper in Jaws (1975) which instead went to Richard Dreyfuss).
Grodin's ultimate breakthrough came on the Broadway stage in "Same Time Next Year" (1975) (opposite Ellen Burstyn), a hugely successful romantic comedy about two people, each married to someone else, who conduct an extramarital affair for a single day over the course of 24 years in the same room of a northern Californian inn. Though the two leads left the show after seven months, Grodin was now much sought-after in Hollywood as a droll comic actor and cast in a string of hit comedies: Heaven Can Wait (1978), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Lonely Guy (1984) and Midnight Run (1988). He also appeared to sterling effect in the underrated farce The Couch Trip (1988), in which he co-starred with Walter Matthau and Dan Aykroyd as the brittle psychiatrist and radio host Dr. George Maitlin. Arguably his most popular box office success was opposite the titular Saint Bernard canine in the family-oriented comedy Beethoven (1992). Despite less than enthusiastic critical reviews, the film was a hit with audiences, grossed $147.2 million worldwide and spawned a sequel.
In the mid-1990s, Grodin reinvented himself as a television host (The Charles Grodin Show (1995)) and political commentator. He made frequent guest appearances on talk shows with Carson or Letterman, typically adopting the persona of a belligerent tongue-in-cheek character to facilitate "comically uncomfortable situations on the set". Grodin was also a prolific author, both of fiction and non-fiction. An autobiography was entitled "It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here: My Journey Through Show Business" (1989). Charles Grodin died at age 86 of bone marrow cancer on May 18, 2021 at his home in Wilton, Connecticut.Fred Wilson. Appeared in King Kong (1976). He died May 18, 2021. Cause of death "bone marrow cancer".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Akira Takarada was born on April 29, 1934, in Chongjin, North Korea. He rose from the Toho New Face program to become 1 of the most recognizable men associated with the original Godzilla series, though he appeared in only 6 installments. He began in 1949 w/ a small role in When the Liberty Bell Rang and several other small roles. His big break came as navy diver Hideto Ogata in Godzilla (1954). He soon became recognizable for his persona as the cocky, slightly cynical urban male & making him a very successful actor. Throughout his life, he was a celebrity in Japan through his appearances in TV dramas, quiz shows & commercials.Lt. Commander Jiro Nomura. Appeared in Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967). He died March 14, 2022. Cause of death "pneumonia".- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Incisive, intense, multi-talented American actor Lance Solomon Reddick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the younger of two sons, to Solomon Reddick and public schoolteacher Dorothy Gee. Having opted initially for a career in music, he attended first the Peabody Preparatory Institute and the Walden School before studying classical composition at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, qualifying with a Bachelor's Degree. By the early '90s, however, Reddick was forced to re-evaluate his career plans because of a severe back injury suffered while pulling a double shift waiting on tables and delivering newspapers. A pressing need to make ends meet made him enroll at the Yale School of Drama, from where he went on to graduate in 1994 with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He derived much inspiration from his classmate Paul Giamatti and came to regard Daniel Day-Lewis as his quintessential acting role model.
Possessed of an athletic build and a deep, resonant voice, Reddick also had a self-declared affinity for accents. Preparing himself for his roles, he immersed himself fully into his characters as a "transformational performer", often rehearsing his lines in front of a mirror. He made his television debut in an episode of New York Undercover (1994). Though he played a couple of drug addicts early on, he soon found himself much in demand-- and ultimately typecast -- as powerful authority figures, from police detectives (Johnny Basil in Oz (1997)) to FBI agents (Law & Order (1990)) to senior police officer (Cedric Daniels in The Wire (2002)). One of his best known roles on the big screen was as the mysterious Mr. Charon, concierge at the Continental Hotel, scene of much of the action in the John Wick (2014) franchise.
Arguably, his most memorable character was that of Phillip Broyles, special agent-in-charge with the Department of Homeland Security, heading a team of experts investigating paranormal events in the outstanding science fiction drama series Fringe (2008). Broyles was a no-nonsense tough guy, who, nevertheless, remained steadfastly loyal in defense of his team against insidious forces from within and without. Unlike Broyles, Reddick's other important recurring TV character, Chief Irving in Bosch (2014), was a morally ambiguous man motivated chiefly by political ambition. Both were flawless performances.
Prior to his sad and untimely passing in March 2023 at the age of 60, Reddick was much sought-after as a voice actor for animations and video games. He also never lost his lifelong passion for music, and, in 2007, released an album of his compositions entitled "Contemplations & Remembrances". In private life, the twice-married Reddick was said to have been very much devoted to his three dogs.Guillermin. Appeared in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). He died March 17, 2023. Cause of death "ischemic heart disease".