[via metafilter]
I wrote about the Creature from the Black Lagoon back in October. Sad to report that Ben Chapman, the actor that played the Gill Man, has passed away at the age of 79.
Chapman was a retired real estate executive. But his role as the Gill Man — the quintessential 1950s monster in Universal Pictures’ black-and-white film in 3-D — became his worldwide calling card and made him a darling on the collectibles and sci-fi circuit throughout the world.
The Gill Man’s place in the Universal monster lineage was a priority for Chapman, since he was the longtime lone survivor in a parade of horror monster flicks that dated to the 1920s. He cited predecessors Lon Chaney Sr. in “Phantom of the Opera” and “Hunchback of Notre Dame” in the 1920s, Bela Lugosi in “Dracula” and Boris Karloff in “Frankenstein” in the 1930s, and Lon Chaney Jr. in “The Wolf Man” and “The Mummy” in the 1940s.
- Ben Chapman, 10/29/28-2/21/08
- The Honolulu Advertiser, ‘Black Lagoon’ star Ben Chapman, 79
As a little boy, I was taken to the movies by my father to see “The Creature From the Black Lagoon.” It was this film that put my life in the direction to which it has taken. I spent spent my summers through high school, college and graduatre school as a lifeguard at coney Island (my latter years on the job served as Chief Lifguard). “The Creature…” imprinted the aquatic world into my mind and that resulted in my devoting my life to the sea. In addition to the lifeguard job, I earned a Master’s degree in Marine Biology. I went on to a Ph.D. degree in Biology and devoted my life to water-borne viral diseases - indirectly due to Ben Chapman and his work in the “Creature…”. I an a SCUBA diver and to this day, I imagine that I am the creature swimming under water in the Black Lagoon. I even found an inlet off the Jersey coast called (by the locals) the Black Lagoon. Indeed, “The Creature From thre Black Lagoon” and Ben Chapman were and still are, significant parts of my life!
Steve, thanks for sharing. I guess prior to 1975, this was the scariest thing coming out of the water. I am glad it inspired instead of frightened. I hope you get a chance to also share this with Ben’s official memorial site. Some others have already begun to do so.