The man himself. The chap who uttered the immortal line "To know death Otto, you have to fuck life in the gallbladder." He's a fella we've all (yes all) seen onscreen but a man very few would be able to name. That voice. Those eyes. A combination that makes his every screen appearance memorable no matter how small the role may be. He's been around for what seems like an eternity and now thanks to directors like S. Craig Zahler & Alexander Payne he's being reintroduced to a modern audience. The German hospital he was born in during World War II was bombed minutes after his birth and that kind of overblown drama has been part and parcel of his career ever since.
He's worked with some massive names like Paul Morrissey, Gus Van Sant, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Dario Argento and Lars Von Trier. He's been in the magnificent Andy Warhol's Flesh For Frankenstein & the memorable Andy Warhol's Dracula and somehow the putrid Ace Ventura : Pet Detective. He's seduced River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves with a sinister dance. Been in not one but two of the infamous video nasties of the 80's. He's had his vampire teeth pulled from his head by Stephen Dorff and faced off against Scooby Doo and Shaggy. Nash Bridges arrested him for dodginess and Gabriel Byrne punched his fist through his head. A corsetted Pamela Anderson ended his life and he once even evaluated a pre asteroid bound Bruce Willis. He's a jack of all trades but the horror genre has always and will always be his bread and butter. He's been making films since 1966 and he's still only 74 so there's tonnes more films to come. 200 plus appearances onscreen. Wow. Check it out here.
Greatest Hits
Andy Warhol's Frankenstein - Baron Frankenstein. This along with Mark Of The Devil put him firmly on the map for horror fans. He's superb here, cheesy and hammy enough to make a lovely toasted sandwich. His death scene is an all time classic and still the best use of 3D ever. Yes, that is his liver.
Suspiria. Dr Frank Mandel. The psychiatrist who lays bare the terrifying secrets of the Tanz dance academy.
Blade. Gitano Dragonetti. An ancient vampire with an astounding moniker troubled by the violent ways of modern bloodsuckers. Another cracker of a death scene in this one.
Mother Of Tears. The finale to Dario Argento's witch trilogy is a terrible film but he's one of it's few highlights. Until he gets his face chopped up by a blind monk carrying a meat cleaver.
Brawl In Cell Block 99. In a film packed with hideous violence it's his 3 minute cameo and the terrifying lines he speaks that will stick with you. For weeks. Shudder.
Previous heroes
Fairuza Balk
Ernie Hudson
Lin Shaye
James Remar
Cloris Leachman
James Hong
David Strathairn
Frankie Faison
Conchata Ferrell
Dick Miller
Veronica Cartwright
Edie McClurg
Barry Shabaka Henley
Raymond Cruz
Reg E.Cathey
Elizabeth McGovern
John Amos
Bruce Greenwood
Mary McDonnell
Gerald McSorley
John Rothman
Margo Martindale
Kurtwood Smith
Paula Malcolmson
Luis Guzman
David Morse
Linda Hunt
Keith David
Zeljko Ivanek
Fiona Shaw
Xander Berkeley
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
C.C.H Pounder
William Forsythe
Beth Grant
Sven-Ole Thorsen
Regina King
Ric Young
Mark Rolston
Illeana Douglas
Jeanette Goldstein
Al Leong
Allan Graf
Bill Nunn
Thomas Rosales Jr
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