Glenn Strange
George Glenn Strange ( born August 16, 1899 in Weed, New Mexico, † September 20, 1973 in Los Angeles ) was an American actor, singer and film composer.
Life
Glenn Strange was the son of Irish and Native American ancestors to the world. Initially he worked as a farmer and a policeman, and was the star of a rodeo show before he and his cousin a singing group called the Arizona Wranglers co-founded, with which he moved in the late 1920s with songs in country style through the country. In this way he made the film industry attention. In the 1930s and 1940s he appeared in a number of Western films as " singing cowboy " on, composed while many of the interpretations of his own songs and recorded so for a number of film scores, at least partly responsible.
His first film appearance was in 1930 in a Strange tiny supporting role in The Mounted Stranger. From then turned Strange incessantly and was seen mainly in Western until 1942, he appeared in his first two horror movies: The Mummy's Tomb (Universal ) and The Mad Monster ( Producers Releasing Corporation). The horror genre should have a decisive influence on his career in the following years.
Since the actor Boris Karloff for fear of too great a role in determining refused since 1940 to continue to play his famous role of the monster in the Frankenstein movies from Universal, we looked for a suitable successor for Karloff in the film company. From 1944, the choice fell on the occupation department Strange, after the mask specialist Jack P. Pierce, Karloff had created the legendary make-up, had made strong for him. In three great Universal horror films Strange took over the role of Frankenstein's monster, namely in Frankenstein's house (1944 ), Dracula's House ( 1945) and the parody Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, 1948); the latter film was not least because of his occupation with Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man at the time one of the biggest blockbuster from Universal, but at the same time, paradoxically, meant the end of the horror movie era, these production company.
Was Boris Karloff and the better-known Frankenstein performer, wore ( and still wear ) Universals promotional products around this movie character most strikingly the wrinkled features of Glenn Strange.
In the 1950s turned Strange especially for television and appeared there in all kinds of roles and genres. So he remained a younger audience through its role in Gunsmoke as a bartender Sam in memory. For the film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon ( The secret of the Amazon, 1954) by director Jack Arnold was Strange once again for a starring role in a horror film in conversation; the " gill man" then played but a swimmer who specialized in the breath-hold for several minutes was why he and not the actor Strange for this underwater role was preferred.
Glenn Strange played until his Lungenkrebstod in late summer 1973 in more than 300 films.