Angus Scrimm(1926-2016)
- Actor
The evil screen villain Angus Scrimm, most famous as "The Tall Man" in
Don Coscarelli's
Phantasm (1979) and its sequels, grew up
in Kansas City, but in his teens moved to California and studied drama
at USC under William C. de Mille
(brother of Cecil B. DeMille). His film
debut came as another "Tall Man" he played
Abraham Lincoln in an
educational film made by Encyclopaedia Brittanica, which led him to a
steady career in theater, television and film. His big-screen debut was
in
Jim, the World's Greatest (1975),
directed by then 18-year-old Coscarelli. During this time he was using
his birth name, Lawrence Rory Guy. He adopted the stage name Angus
Scrimm three years later for his performance in Coscarelli's
horror/sci-fi opus "Phantasm", which would mark Scrimm's permanent
impression upon modern cinema. His role as the infamous Tall Man has
earned him the praise of critics worldwide, as well as a large
following of fans. His success in the "Phantasm" films has been
parlayed into numerous other malevolent roles including the evil Dr.
Sin Do in The Lost Empire (1984),
Vlad the Vampire King in
Subspecies (1991) and the nefarious
Dr. Lyme opposite Nicolas Cage and
Charlie Sheen in
Deadfall (1993). Scrimm did intriguing
double duty as the diabolical Seer and the angelic Systems Operator in
Mindwarp (1991), co-starring
Bruce Campbell. He did a shock
cameo in the Italian film
Fatal Frames (1996),
opposite Stefania Stella and
Donald Pleasence, and managed a gleeful
parody of himself as the hulking henchman in
Transylvania Twist (1989).
Scrimm has not limited his career efforts to simply acting, however. As
a journalist he has written and edited for "TV Guide", "Cinema
Magazine", the now-defunct "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner" and other
publications. He has also written liner notes for thousands of LPs and
CDs, for just about every genre from classical music to jazz, from
Frank Sinatra and
The Beatles to
Artur Rubinstein and
Itzhak Perlman. He won a Grammy award for
best album liner notes.