Sad news as we've just received a call that Ben Chapman, the last of the original Universal Monsters, has passed away today in Hawaii. Chapman was best know as the actor that played THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. Talent scouts from Universal-International "discovered" Chapman upon his return from the Korean War, and for a year he became a U-I stock player--and, at six-foot-five, an ideal choice for the finny title role in "Creature from the Black Lagoon (source IMDB). Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Chapman family.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon is my dad's favorite monster. I know Dad'll be sad to hear of this loss. I have great memories of watching the original "Creature" film with Dad as a kid on VHS, and the two Creature sequels on DVD a couple of years ago.
I wrote "was" in the first sentence instead of "is", then went back and changed it. As an actor myself, I realize that when an actor gives a memorable performance on film he gains a bit of earthly immortality.
Our favorite film characters, and therefore the actors that portray them, will never die out as long as we continue to share our favorite films with new generations and keep the memories alive in our minds and hearts.
I usually don't get this way, but this news made me surprisingly grief-filled, and I felt I needed to say what was on my mind.
God rest your soul Ben. I hope I see you in Heaven. We should hang out.
R.I.P.
I as well loved the original as a kid. All the old school Universal films were so great. Those were the films that got me into horror growing up as a kid in the seventies. We had a show here in Seattle during that time called "Nightmare Theater" on Friday nights that almost always played a classic Universal film. Is there any news on the Creature remake ????
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