Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
David Ayres...Mask making monkey man !
Close Encounters of the Third Kind !...Something Wicked this Way Comes !....Battlestar Galactica!
What do these all have in common ? They all feature the amazing masks and makeups of special effects makeup artist David Ayres.
David is a California native,who grew up in Arizona. With a life long fascination with movie monsters and makeup he soon found himself headed to Hollywood to pursue his dreams.
Early in his career landed at the starting point for many a young makeup man, Hollywood's famous Don Post Studios.
During his time at Don Post Studios, David worked on a few of the masks that Post is legendary for, sculpting and making molds for quality masks, and special projects. Also, helping to create the Star/Trek mask line from which came the Captain Kirk mask (The Shape) used for John Carpenter's film Halloween.
While at Post, David also befriended our last featured gorilla man, Steve Neill.
Just as Steve did, David also heard the call of the jungle and proceeded to build his gorilla alter ego, "Link ".
Link is a mischievous looking fellow, with loads of character. It was these qualities, that lead to David as "Link" to be cast in a Kool-Aid commercial shown nation wide in 1976.
Here is Link, stalking the wilds of Griffith Park in a series of photos taken by Paul Gentry.
David channels his inner, Charles Gemora !!!
To hire David to create the beast you've always wanted, you can contact him at :
More examples of Davids amazing creations can be found on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.ayres
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/davidaayres
Dave Ayres - IMDb
David Ayres Battlestar Galactica Alien Designs
Weekly World News - David Ayres Man of Many Faces
David Ayres YouTube - Origin of Michael Myers Halloween Mask
Put on the Ghoul at David Ayres Makeup Workshops - East Valley Tribune
Mardi Gras Costume Shop David Ayres Zombie Makeup Demo
What do these all have in common ? They all feature the amazing masks and makeups of special effects makeup artist David Ayres.
David is a California native,who grew up in Arizona. With a life long fascination with movie monsters and makeup he soon found himself headed to Hollywood to pursue his dreams.
Early in his career landed at the starting point for many a young makeup man, Hollywood's famous Don Post Studios.
During his time at Don Post Studios, David worked on a few of the masks that Post is legendary for, sculpting and making molds for quality masks, and special projects. Also, helping to create the Star/Trek mask line from which came the Captain Kirk mask (The Shape) used for John Carpenter's film Halloween.
While at Post, David also befriended our last featured gorilla man, Steve Neill.
Just as Steve did, David also heard the call of the jungle and proceeded to build his gorilla alter ego, "Link ".
Here is Link, stalking the wilds of Griffith Park in a series of photos taken by Paul Gentry.
Link and Davids good friend, Paul Gentry in 1976.
You can catch a glimpse of "Link" in action here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIynkkF4YFY
After Don Post Studios, David worked at The Burman Studios, as a sculptor and mold maker and helped to created such monstrous creations as six foot long giant ants for Empire of the Ants. And thru The Burman Studios, a closeup ET head, and also helped with the background ET masks for
Steven Spielberg's speculative science-drama Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Next, He was hired by Charles Band to create the creepy likeness mannequin masks in the cult classic Tourist Trap.
While still in his early Twenties, David had a two page article about himself, in Starlog Magazine.
You can catch a glimpse of "Link" in action here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIynkkF4YFY
After Don Post Studios, David worked at The Burman Studios, as a sculptor and mold maker and helped to created such monstrous creations as six foot long giant ants for Empire of the Ants. And thru The Burman Studios, a closeup ET head, and also helped with the background ET masks for
Steven Spielberg's speculative science-drama Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Next, He was hired by Charles Band to create the creepy likeness mannequin masks in the cult classic Tourist Trap.
While still in his early Twenties, David had a two page article about himself, in Starlog Magazine.
The finished version of Davids War of the Worlds Martian can be seen below.
David channels his inner, Charles Gemora !!!
To hire David to create the beast you've always wanted, you can contact him at :
David Ayres
More examples of Davids amazing creations can be found on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.ayres
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/davidaayres
Dave Ayres - IMDb
David Ayres Battlestar Galactica Alien Designs
Weekly World News - David Ayres Man of Many Faces
David Ayres YouTube - Origin of Michael Myers Halloween Mask
Put on the Ghoul at David Ayres Makeup Workshops - East Valley Tribune
Mardi Gras Costume Shop David Ayres Zombie Makeup Demo
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Steve Neill...Make-Up... Models... and Monkey Man !
Hi my mad monkey minions !
This time, we look into the simian career of a special effects master Steve Neill.
Steve is one of Hollywood's most diverse talents !
Steve has a huge resume under his belt as a make-up effects artist, and creature effects artist for such
films as Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country..Puppet Master, Return of the Swamp Thing,Battle Beyond the Stars, and the movie Ghost Busters.
Steve is a renaissance man of sorts, mastering the the effects fields of Make-up, Visual Effects, practical effects, Miniatures, and a list of accomplishments, that could easily be a website unto itself.
Steve has also become one of the leading builders of radio controlled movie quality models and miniatures. He has built models, ranging from Star Trek to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea !
His services are sought after the world over!
What about the gorilla stuff, you ask ?
OK, I'll tell ya !
Early in his make-up career, like most creature guys, Steve took an interest in gorillas. Steve built his first suit while working as a sculptor for the legendary Don Post studios, of Hollywood.
Steve, built his suit along side his friends, David Ayres, and Paul Gentry. ( More to come on David Ayres!)
Steve's first suit was excellent, but a mere foreshadowing of what was yet to come.
After Post, Steve became good friends with master make-up artist, and modern day gorilla God, Rick Baker.
Rick was instrumental in getting Steve's early career off to a phenomenal start!
His friendship with Rick was also a learning experience for Steve. Rick taught Steve a great deal in terms of techniques , and mechanics of advanced make-up and creature effects.
Steve took the teachings of Rick to heart in regards to gorilla suit building.
Steve went on to build an amazing suit that he used professionally on many occasions. The most notable,would be the King Kong commercial for Transamerica Insurance Co.
There were two versions of the commercial, differing only in a lengthier destructive intro.
The primary theme was Kong (Neill) climbing the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco California.
In this commercial for Transamerica Insurance, King Kong is shown on a destructive rampage through a big city. Eventually he scales the walls of a skyscraper and knocks over some potted plants on a penthouse terrace while swatting at several attacking helicopters. An indignant tenant appears and wants to know "who's gonna pay for this mess?" Slogan (supered): "Transamerica. The power of the pyramid is working for you."
Working with, and supporting Steve in his Kong outing, was his beloved, late wife Gilly.
Gilly puppeteered Kong's face, in his rampage.
Re-Christening his ape alter ego "Carlo" , Steve also got to go ape along side master gorilla men Bob Burns, and Dale Park in an episode of the TV series, Rags to Riches.
Here Steve and Bob, share a snack.
Speaking of Dale Park, I found out from Steve, that He made the face of Dales Suit ! The face came from the same molds as Steve's first suit he built.
Bob and Steve have been friends for many years, and have worked together on many projects.
When Steve created the Mac Tonight character for McDonald's, (man in the moon playing piano)Steve, Bob, and Gilly puppeteered the face for Mac.
Mac was played by renowned creature actor. Doug Jones. (Abe Sapien from Hell Boy, and The Silver Surfer from the Fantastic Four)
Steve has a daily vlog on YouTube, called Steve Neill's Garage.( SNG )
It's a fascinating look at Steve's fantastic world!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3CF69F6AC94B4F71
Check out Steves creations, you'll be glad you did !...Oh, and look out for Rosie the Wonder Dog !
This time, we look into the simian career of a special effects master Steve Neill.
Steve is one of Hollywood's most diverse talents !
Steve has a huge resume under his belt as a make-up effects artist, and creature effects artist for such
films as Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country..Puppet Master, Return of the Swamp Thing,Battle Beyond the Stars, and the movie Ghost Busters.
Steve is a renaissance man of sorts, mastering the the effects fields of Make-up, Visual Effects, practical effects, Miniatures, and a list of accomplishments, that could easily be a website unto itself.
Steve has also become one of the leading builders of radio controlled movie quality models and miniatures. He has built models, ranging from Star Trek to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea !
His services are sought after the world over!
What about the gorilla stuff, you ask ?
OK, I'll tell ya !
Early in his make-up career, like most creature guys, Steve took an interest in gorillas. Steve built his first suit while working as a sculptor for the legendary Don Post studios, of Hollywood.
Steve, built his suit along side his friends, David Ayres, and Paul Gentry. ( More to come on David Ayres!)
After Post, Steve became good friends with master make-up artist, and modern day gorilla God, Rick Baker.
Rick was instrumental in getting Steve's early career off to a phenomenal start!
His friendship with Rick was also a learning experience for Steve. Rick taught Steve a great deal in terms of techniques , and mechanics of advanced make-up and creature effects.
Steve took the teachings of Rick to heart in regards to gorilla suit building.
There were two versions of the commercial, differing only in a lengthier destructive intro.
In this commercial for Transamerica Insurance, King Kong is shown on a destructive rampage through a big city. Eventually he scales the walls of a skyscraper and knocks over some potted plants on a penthouse terrace while swatting at several attacking helicopters. An indignant tenant appears and wants to know "who's gonna pay for this mess?" Slogan (supered): "Transamerica. The power of the pyramid is working for you."
Gilly puppeteered Kong's face, in his rampage.
Re-Christening his ape alter ego "Carlo" , Steve also got to go ape along side master gorilla men Bob Burns, and Dale Park in an episode of the TV series, Rags to Riches.
Here Steve and Bob, share a snack.
Bob and Steve have been friends for many years, and have worked together on many projects.
When Steve created the Mac Tonight character for McDonald's, (man in the moon playing piano)Steve, Bob, and Gilly puppeteered the face for Mac.
Steve has a daily vlog on YouTube, called Steve Neill's Garage.( SNG )
It's a fascinating look at Steve's fantastic world!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3CF69F6AC94B4F71
Check out Steves creations, you'll be glad you did !...Oh, and look out for Rosie the Wonder Dog !
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Merry Christmas from...The Monster Gorilla !
We at Hollywood Gorilla Men , and the cast of the soon to be released homage to classic gorilla films, Monster Gorilla want to wish all our readers a very Happy Holiday Season !
Here the beautiful star of Monster Gorilla, Heather Brinkley, tells the old beastie himself what she wants for Christmas !
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Dale Park !...Video Game Gorilla Man !
Hiya Gorilla Gang !
This time we're going to talk about a gorilla man you probably haven't heard of, but have probably seen before...assuming you were around in the70's and 80's that is.
Dale Park,!!
Dale was primarily an actor stuntman in Hollywood who was originally from Decatur Illinois.
As a young man, Dale was an athlete, which no doubt helped in his stunt career.
Along the way he got the gorilla bug and had a custom suit constructed to his specifications.
Dale's suit was very unique in design, as the head and neck were tapered into the body.
This gave the suit a nice thick neck that looked very realistic, but it sacrificed any flexibility of the head. Dales suit also was an early attempt so show the varying fur lengths of the real animal. The arms and shoulders were very long fur, while the body fur was about an inch long. While this was accurate to a real gorilla, it didn't always come off so well on camera , but overall I thought it was a pretty cool looking suit.
Dale did a fair amount of appearances as "Grunt" the Gorilla in commercials and television.
He also played apes in two movies, " Mistress of the Apes " ( 1979 ) , and also " Mr. Too Little" (1978 ).
In the movie "Fire And Ice" (1983) Dale played a Subhuman.
His Television appearances include the Educational Television program, "Mathnet" ( A mathematical take off of Dragnet). Dale appeared as Grunt the Gorilla in the episode : "The Problem of the Missing Monkey" (1987)
In the TV sitcom "Rags to Riches", Dale got to be one of 3 gorillas in an episode. Dale teamed with Legendary Gorilla Man Bob Burns, and Gorilla man, special effects genius Steve Neill.
Steve Neill, Dale Park, and Bob Burns on the set of Rags to riches.
Here are Bob's thoughts about Dale Park ;
[ Dale was a great stunt man. After his gorilla suit days he worked for Roy Rogers at his museum. He played Gabby hayes for the people who came through the place.
When the museum closed Dale kept playing Gabby and continued that role or at least the last time I saw him in the photo below. Republic studios celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2010. I hadn't seen Dale in years and all of a sudden behind me I heard a voice that sounded Like Gabby Hayes say "How you doin Bobby".
It was Dale looking very
much like Gabby. It was so great to see him. He is one of the
nice guys in the business.
]
[ The above photo is Dale in his gorilla suit. I don't know who made it
for him. It's not the best gorilla suit but he put a lot of body
English into it. He used to know Ray Corrigan so I'm sure that he got
a few pointers from him.
I hope this puts some light on another gorilla man.]
Now you may be asking why I called this the Video Game gorilla ?
In the 80's Dale was the mascot for the Parker Brothers video game, AMIDAR.
Dale appeared both in print ads, and a national TV commercial.
This is where I first saw Dale's gorilla, and I made a vow to find out who this guy was.
Here are screen caps from the commercial..
This time we're going to talk about a gorilla man you probably haven't heard of, but have probably seen before...assuming you were around in the70's and 80's that is.
Dale Park,!!
Dale was primarily an actor stuntman in Hollywood who was originally from Decatur Illinois.
As a young man, Dale was an athlete, which no doubt helped in his stunt career.
Along the way he got the gorilla bug and had a custom suit constructed to his specifications.
Dale's suit was very unique in design, as the head and neck were tapered into the body.
This gave the suit a nice thick neck that looked very realistic, but it sacrificed any flexibility of the head. Dales suit also was an early attempt so show the varying fur lengths of the real animal. The arms and shoulders were very long fur, while the body fur was about an inch long. While this was accurate to a real gorilla, it didn't always come off so well on camera , but overall I thought it was a pretty cool looking suit.
Dale did a fair amount of appearances as "Grunt" the Gorilla in commercials and television.
He also played apes in two movies, " Mistress of the Apes " ( 1979 ) , and also " Mr. Too Little" (1978 ).
In the movie "Fire And Ice" (1983) Dale played a Subhuman.
His Television appearances include the Educational Television program, "Mathnet" ( A mathematical take off of Dragnet). Dale appeared as Grunt the Gorilla in the episode : "The Problem of the Missing Monkey" (1987)
In the TV sitcom "Rags to Riches", Dale got to be one of 3 gorillas in an episode. Dale teamed with Legendary Gorilla Man Bob Burns, and Gorilla man, special effects genius Steve Neill.
Bob, Steve, and Dale taking a breather between takes.
Cooling down !
Spoiled rich kids, about to get a gorilla dunking !
Here are Bob's thoughts about Dale Park ;
[ Dale was a great stunt man. After his gorilla suit days he worked for Roy Rogers at his museum. He played Gabby hayes for the people who came through the place.
When the museum closed Dale kept playing Gabby and continued that role or at least the last time I saw him in the photo below. Republic studios celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2010. I hadn't seen Dale in years and all of a sudden behind me I heard a voice that sounded Like Gabby Hayes say "How you doin Bobby".
[ The above photo is Dale in his gorilla suit. I don't know who made it
for him. It's not the best gorilla suit but he put a lot of body
English into it. He used to know Ray Corrigan so I'm sure that he got
a few pointers from him.
I hope this puts some light on another gorilla man.]
Now you may be asking why I called this the Video Game gorilla ?
In the 80's Dale was the mascot for the Parker Brothers video game, AMIDAR.
Dale appeared both in print ads, and a national TV commercial.
This is where I first saw Dale's gorilla, and I made a vow to find out who this guy was.
Here are screen caps from the commercial..
And this is the commercial itself...Take note of Dale's body English, especially his loping run at the begining, he was a master !
I 'm glad I was able to find out who Dale was, and a little about him. Like all Gorilla men, each and everyone one of them, deserve a place in the spotlight !
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Mighty Monkey Man Bananer Banner !...This month...Angus Lamont !
Hiya gang,
You'll notice a new look for the HGM banner above ! Gorillaman and I are inviting you, our readers to submit your own HGM banner designs! This months great design is from a young member of both our HGM and Ape Suit Cinema (Facebook) Sites .
Direct from beautiful Scotland...I give you the artful work of Angus Lamont !
If you would like to contribute a design, you can email it to ; hollywoodgorillamen@gmail.com
Bring em' on gang, we're looking forward to seeing them !
You'll notice a new look for the HGM banner above ! Gorillaman and I are inviting you, our readers to submit your own HGM banner designs! This months great design is from a young member of both our HGM and Ape Suit Cinema (Facebook) Sites .
Direct from beautiful Scotland...I give you the artful work of Angus Lamont !
If you would like to contribute a design, you can email it to ; hollywoodgorillamen@gmail.com
Bring em' on gang, we're looking forward to seeing them !
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! ....Bongo's # 1... The Gorilla 1939!
This is it folks!
Old Bongo's favorite Halloween Monkey Movie !...The Gorilla !
The Gorilla stars the wacky, zany, goofy, and sometimes funny Ritz Brothers !
The Ritz's are an acquired taste, and some people can't stand them, but I think their brand of low brow humor is funny as hell !
The Ritz's are like an impossible combination of the Three Stooges, and Abbott and Costello....in short...completely nuts !
The supporting cast really puts this film over the top for me though.
The cast features Bela Lugosi ! Lionell Atwill ! The hysterically funny Patsy Kelly!
The stunningly beautiful Anita Louise, And The dashing Edward Norris!
Another cast member who is no stranger to gorillas is Joseph Calleia. Two years after "The Gorilla", Calleia would go on to co-star in the classic Monster and the Girl !
The story is a classic : A terrible murderer is prowling the city...the only clue to his identity ? A note !
On that note, is the threat of death to the victim, and the cryptic signature...The Gorilla !
Our story unfolds in the mansion home of Walter Stevens. (Lionel Atwill)
The house maid Kitty (the hysterically funny Patsy Kelly !) is relaxing in her upstairs room when A huge gorilla arm reaches in through the window and pins a note to her shoulder.
A quick shrieking dash downstairs alerts Stevens and his faithful butler, Peters. (Bela Lugosi).
After retrieving the note from the terrified Kitty, Stevens sees that he is to be the next victim of the gorilla.
Rather than call the police, Stevens hires three bumbling detectives ; Harrigan, Mulligan, and Garrity. ( Al, Harry, and Jimmy Ritz)
With the detectives to protect him, Stevens is assured of his safety...or is he?
About then, Stevens' beautiful niece (Anita Louise) shows up with her Fiance.(Edward Norris).
What follows is a tour de farce of sliding panels, secret passages, disappearing detectives, and if that isn't enough, a real gorilla lurking around the house ! The gorilla in "The Gorilla" is expertly played by ace gorilla man Art Miles.
Art's suit was one of the best in it's time, with an incredibly detailed face, beautiful fur quality, and fantastic proportions. The face was well articulated with moving mouth, lips, and nostrils!
Like Corrigans gorilla, Art's had an incredibly wild head of hair ! (think Don King)
The proportions of the suit are excellent, a really massive beast !
The story is for the most part fast moving and really funny. The scenes with Atwill and Lugosi are very memorable and a great showcase for their talents, Lugosi in particular !
Lugosi's Peters the butler is a great character, very eerie, bordering at times at self parody. You get to see Bela step outside the norm, and pull off some great gags like judo flipping Al Ritz flat on his back !
Old Bongo's favorite Halloween Monkey Movie !...The Gorilla !
The Gorilla stars the wacky, zany, goofy, and sometimes funny Ritz Brothers !
The Ritz's are an acquired taste, and some people can't stand them, but I think their brand of low brow humor is funny as hell !
The Ritz's are like an impossible combination of the Three Stooges, and Abbott and Costello....in short...completely nuts !
The supporting cast really puts this film over the top for me though.
The cast features Bela Lugosi ! Lionell Atwill ! The hysterically funny Patsy Kelly!
The stunningly beautiful Anita Louise, And The dashing Edward Norris!
Another cast member who is no stranger to gorillas is Joseph Calleia. Two years after "The Gorilla", Calleia would go on to co-star in the classic Monster and the Girl !
The story is a classic : A terrible murderer is prowling the city...the only clue to his identity ? A note !
On that note, is the threat of death to the victim, and the cryptic signature...The Gorilla !
Our story unfolds in the mansion home of Walter Stevens. (Lionel Atwill)
The house maid Kitty (the hysterically funny Patsy Kelly !) is relaxing in her upstairs room when A huge gorilla arm reaches in through the window and pins a note to her shoulder.
After retrieving the note from the terrified Kitty, Stevens sees that he is to be the next victim of the gorilla.
With the detectives to protect him, Stevens is assured of his safety...or is he?
About then, Stevens' beautiful niece (Anita Louise) shows up with her Fiance.(Edward Norris).
What follows is a tour de farce of sliding panels, secret passages, disappearing detectives, and if that isn't enough, a real gorilla lurking around the house ! The gorilla in "The Gorilla" is expertly played by ace gorilla man Art Miles.
Art's suit was one of the best in it's time, with an incredibly detailed face, beautiful fur quality, and fantastic proportions. The face was well articulated with moving mouth, lips, and nostrils!
Like Corrigans gorilla, Art's had an incredibly wild head of hair ! (think Don King)
The proportions of the suit are excellent, a really massive beast !
The story is for the most part fast moving and really funny. The scenes with Atwill and Lugosi are very memorable and a great showcase for their talents, Lugosi in particular !
Lugosi's Peters the butler is a great character, very eerie, bordering at times at self parody. You get to see Bela step outside the norm, and pull off some great gags like judo flipping Al Ritz flat on his back !
I know it's goofy...I know it's silly...But it's my absolute favorite treat for this very tricky Halloween countdown !
On behalf of Gorilla Man, and myself, Mighty Bongo...We wish you all a very Happy and Ape-y Halloween !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)