Charles Gemora was in SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN with Thelma Todd as well as SEAL SKINS. He was in a scene with Laurel and Hardy that was named by Patsy Kelly as her favorite. Then there was that business about him being KING KONG...
Charles Gemora
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carlos Cruz Gemora (June 15, 1903 – August 19, 1961), commonly known as Charles Gemora, was a former Hollywood makeup artist renowned as "the King of the Gorilla Men" for his prolific appearances in many Hollywood films while wearing a gorilla suit.
Gemora's study of real gorillas at the San Diego Zoo and his expertise on makeup gave him an extensive career as a gorilla opposite such luminaries as Our Gang (Bear Shooters), Lon Chaney (The Unholy Three), Bela Lugosi (Murders in the Rue Morgue), Laurel and Hardy, (The Chimp & Swiss Miss), The Marx Brothers (At the Circus), Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (Road to Zanzibar), The Great Gildersleeve (Gildersleeve's Ghost), Abbott and Costello (Africa Screams) and Robert Mitchum (White Witch Doctor).
With men in gorilla suits no longer providing the same scares in the 1950s as they did in the 1930s and '40s, Gemora moved his creature expertise into science fiction films such as the Martian in War of the Worlds and I Married a Monster from Outer Space.[2]
| Charles Gemora | |
|---|---|
| Born | Carlos Cruz Gemora June 15, 1903 Negros, Philippines |
| Died | August 19, 1961 (aged 58) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1928–1958 |
| Children | Diana Gemora |
Biography
Gemora was born on the island of Negros in the Philippines, and arrived in San Francisco as a stowaway. He quickly found work at the Brentwood fruit farm in Colusa, CA. and eventually moved to Los Angeles. He earned money doing portrait sketches outside of Universal Studios where his talents were discovered and put to work in the studio's sculpture department for The Hunchback of Notre Dame.[1] When creating a gorilla suit Gemora found his 5'4"/163 cm stature made him a natural to wear the suit himself beginning with The Leopard Lady in 1928.Gemora's study of real gorillas at the San Diego Zoo and his expertise on makeup gave him an extensive career as a gorilla opposite such luminaries as Our Gang (Bear Shooters), Lon Chaney (The Unholy Three), Bela Lugosi (Murders in the Rue Morgue), Laurel and Hardy, (The Chimp & Swiss Miss), The Marx Brothers (At the Circus), Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (Road to Zanzibar), The Great Gildersleeve (Gildersleeve's Ghost), Abbott and Costello (Africa Screams) and Robert Mitchum (White Witch Doctor).
With men in gorilla suits no longer providing the same scares in the 1950s as they did in the 1930s and '40s, Gemora moved his creature expertise into science fiction films such as the Martian in War of the Worlds and I Married a Monster from Outer Space.[2]
Death
Gemora died of a heart attack in August 1961 while he was working on the makeup of the film Jack the Giant Killer.References
- Jump up ^ Biography for Charles Gemora at the Internet Movie Database
- Jump up ^ p.167 Johnson, John Cheap Tricks and Class Acts 1996 McFarland
External links
- Charles Gemora at the Internet Movie Database
- Lost Souls: Charles Gemora http://www.members.shaw.ca/gorillagallery2/gorillamenclassic/cg_lost_souls_gemora.htm
- Official site http://www.charliegemora.com/
* * *
Charles Gemora's career as a gorilla goes all the way back to the silent era. Here we see him with Thelma Todd in the movie SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN ( 1929 ).
Charles Gemora would appear with Thelma Todd again in SEAL SKINS ( 1932 ) and BUM VOYAGE ( 1934 ),
Patsy Kelly also trying on a gorilla suit in the latter.
Charles Gemora making up for the part.
Dark makeup around his eyes obscured his face while he was in costume.
Charles Gemora has mistakenly been credited with having played King Kong, when Kong was actually a puppet given the illusion of life by stop-motion animation. However, it seems that Gemora actually was shown as a giant gorilla in a promotional film for THE GORILLA ( 1930 ),
a film that actually predated KING KONG. It's even been suggested that this film could have been one of the inspirations for KING KONG*. So in a way, he did play King Kong, but not in the way that some people thought.
Then there was his involvement in Patsy Kelly's favorite Laurel and Hardy film.
Patsy Kelly: As to my favorite film of theirs, it was SWISS MISS. The business of carrying the piana over the bridge and meeting the ape - I must have laughed at that for about six months. If I ever got blue, I'd think of that, and that was it - happy again.
Reblogged from http://www.boxoffice.com/simels/2010-11-great-surrealist-moments-in-cinema-an-occasional-series
Laurel and Hardy are carrying a piano across a bridge when they encounter a gorilla.
In the struggle that ensues, the gorilla falls to his presumed death,
only to turn up again later on crutches,
Which he throws at the fleeing figures of Laurel and Hardy, hitting both and knocking them out.
THE END
*Thelma Todd would have been one of the earlier blondes to have been menaced by a gorilla, because of her role in SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN.
THE GORILLA ( 1930 ):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gorilla_(1930_film)
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/02/seven-footprints-to-satan.html
SWISS MISS:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030824/
Charles Gemora:
http://felixinhollywood.blogspot.com/2010/08/well-hell-be-monkeys-uncle.html
http://charliegemora.com/
Charles Gemora in SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN:
http://www.hollywoodgorillamen.com/2010/02/seven-footprints-to-satan.html
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